


Where Do Your Roots Start

by mandeebobandee



Series: Hogwarts Havoc [10]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-07-23 21:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 42,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandeebobandee/pseuds/mandeebobandee
Summary: As the group prepares for Patton and Roman's wedding, family secrets come to light. Will said secrets threaten everything that they know and love?





	1. Chapter 1

_I'm a Hogwarts graduate. No matter how many times I think that, it still feels weird_ , Virgil thought to himself.  
  
A few weeks passed since Virgil and his friends graduated from Hogwarts. Logan planned to go to Renilda's flat, but wanted to spend some time with his parents first. The rest of his friends also went to see their families, reasoning that they would all be together again soon enough for Patton and Roman's wedding.  
  
Even without Logan, the flat was bustling with activity. Professor Picani officially moved into the flat after Renata's birth. Typically either Renilda or Professor Picani would watch Renata, but in the event that both parents had to work at the same time or were busy for one reason or another, Virgil and/or Dee would step in.  
  
_Do we really need to call him Professor Picani now that we've graduated?_ Virgil wondered. He wrote down this question on a sheet of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it at Dee, who was tucking Renata in for a nap in her crib. Renilda was at work and Professor Picani had a meeting at Hogwarts, leaving Virgil and Dee on babysitting duty.   
  
Dee took advantage of this opportunity to drop his Adam Aceti disguise during most of the time he spent around the flat, though he still donned it on occasion, _especially_ when he had plans outside of the flat. He didn't want to disguise himself _constantly_ if he didn't have to, but it was best for Renata to get used to both faces that her older brother used.  
  
_"How mature,"_ Dee remarked. Virgil rolled his eyes. It might not have been the most _mature_ way to get Dee's attention, but it was effective, wasn't it? Virgil gestured to the note in Dee's hand, then pointed to his own eyes.  
  
_"What is that? You've cast a spell on the paper so that it functions as your eyes? How fascinating!"_   
  
Virgil folded his arms across his chest, _knowing_ that Dee was screwing around with him at this point. So he resorted to a gesture that _no one_ could misinterpret, a gesture that he only felt safe using because his mother wasn't home.  
  
He lifted his middle finger in the air.   
  
Dee let out a gasp of mock offense, holding his hand to his chest. But he _did_ glance down at the note that Virgil wrote to him, which was all that Virgil wanted in the first place.  
  
It was Dee who pretended not to understand him. _He_ started it.  
  
_"What would we call him instead?"_ Dee wondered.   
  
_Emile?_ Virgil wrote in response.  
  
Dee let out a snort. _"Do_ you _feel comfortable calling him Emile?"_  
  
While Dee's response came in the form of a question, it did pose a good point. Virgil didn't feel comfortable calling Professor Picani _Emile_ , and it did not sound as though Dee did either. There was nothing wrong with the name Emile, but Emile was what their _mother_ called him, and Professor Picani was their mother's _partner_. Virgil and Dee were just his...  
  
Stepchildren? Not officially, as Renilda and Professor Picani weren't married. But what if they never got married? Virgil and Dee would still fill that role _functionally_.  
  
Professor Picani it would remain, then. It was the name that Virgil and Dee felt most comfortable with, and Professor Picani didn't seem to mind their continued usage of the name. So long as everyone was comfortable with it, why rock the boat?

Dee turned his attention back to Renata to see how she was doing, only to realize that she'd fallen asleep while Virgil and Dee were taunting one another.  
  
_"Huh,"_ Dee said to himself, motioning for Virgil to follow him to the kitchen. Virgil agreed, as he didn't want to wake Renata up in the event that the situation devolved into an argument again.  
  
_"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here,"_ Dee remarked once they were both in the kitchen.  
  
Virgil arched an eyebrow and shook his head. _Not really,_ Virgil thought to himself.  
  
Dee huffed and pointed to the calendar.  
  
Virgil didn't understand what Dee was trying to tell him, but he didn't think that Dee would feel the need to inform him that it was July, so Virgil took a closer look. He found that day's date...and could practically feel the color draining from his face.  
  
They were supposed to get their NEWTs today.  
  
_"Good thing mum's not around, isn't it? Now we can hide our inevitable failures from her in the guise that the owls must have lost our letters,"_ Dee mused.  
  
Virgil was _pretty sure_ that Dee was joking, but he could not be certain.   
  
He realized he was more nervous about receiving the results of his NEWTs than he was about his OWLs, but who could really blame him? His OWL results determined what classes he could take at NEWT level, so they weren't exactly unimportant in and of themselves. But his NEWT scores would make or break possible _career opportunities_. Obviously certain jobs were less apt to require certain NEWTs. A bartender at The Leaky Cauldron wouldn't need high scores on their NEWTs, but one would expect a Potioneer to have scored highly on their NEWTs. Similarly, Renilda needed high scores on her Potions and Herbology NEWTs to obtain her job as a Healer.  
  
Virgil was _already_ worried about trying to find a job where his lack of speech would not be an obstacle. He didn't need bad grades on his NEWTs to make the job search that much harder on him.  
  
_"Did you even listen to a word that I said?"_ Dee's voice cut through Virgil's thoughts.  
  
_I dunno, did you actually say anything important?_ Virgil wrote in retort, a small grin on his face. He was pleased to see the annoyed look on Dee's face as he read the note. He was screwing with Dee, but little did Virgil know that Dee had an ace (aro?) up his sleeve.  
  
Dee let out a huff. _"Very well then. I'll go fetch the owls myself. And I'll be certain that mother sees your results before you get the chance to look,"_ he taunted, a haughty smile on his face as he went to greet the owls.  
  
Virgil's grin fell and his eyes went wide. He dashed after his laughing brother at once, determined to get to that letter before his brother did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooooo mood whiplash from the last chapter. But you didn't think I was just going to delve into Delilah and Remus right away, did you? =P Still, I hope you guys enjoy the brotherly moments between Virgil and Dee in this chapter lol, I had fun writing them <3


	2. Chapter 2

Virgil and Dee ran out to the living room, where two owls came soaring through the open window. Dee reached for one owl while Virgil practically _dove_ for his letter. Once he had it in his hands he held it tightly to him, glaring at Dee as if to say 'back off, this is mine'.  
  
Dee let out a bemused snort. _"What, did you think I was serious when I said I'd show mum that letter first?"_  
  
...well, it was better to be safe than sorry...  
  
Virgil and Dee bestowed each owl with an owl treat before sending the owls on their way. Storm eyed the birds the entire time, but once they flew back through the window she curled back up on the back of the sofa.  
  
 _"Dare you to look first,"_ Dee told Virgil. Virgil's eyes went wide and he shook his head.   
  
_"...you seriously that afraid you're gonna fail?"_ Dee arched an eyebrow.  
  
Virgil shook his head at once.  
  
 _"Really?"_ Dee chuckled.  
  
 _I'm not afraid to look,_ Virgil wrote.  
  
Dee snickered. _"Oh? You aren't?"_  
  
Virgil shook his head once more, trying to look far braver than he felt. Perhaps he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Dee.  
  
 _"Then prove it. Open up that letter,"_ Dee taunted.   
  
Virgil stared down at the letter in his hands. He could feel his heart quicken, his hands starting to shake. This could mean the end of a good many futures for Virgil, if his grades were bad enough. He tried to do it, he really did. He wanted to prove Dee wrong. _But he couldn't bring himself to do it._  
  
Looking to Dee, Virgil conceded defeat. He let out a shaky sigh and shook his head.  
  
 _"Was that so hard? Tsk, and they call me the liar in this family,"_ Dee chided, then glanced down at his own letter with a chuckle. _"Why don't we just open them together?"_  
  
If Virgil had the option, he wouldn't open his _at all_...but it was really better to know what he was in for before Renilda saw the results.  
  
It wasn't just this that convinced Virgil, however. It was noticing the _small_ things about his brother, the way he grasped his own note tightly within his hand, the way he teased Virgil for being afraid to open his letter yet hadn't opened _his own_ , the way his laugh sounded almost tremulous...  
  
Dee was better at hiding it, but Virgil knew nerves. Dee was scared to open his letter too. And Virgil supposed that if Dee could face his own fear about opening his letter...Virgil could do the same. Taking in a deep breath, Virgil looked to his brother and nodded.  
  
 _"Three, two, one, NOW!"_ Dee called out.  
  
Dee's shout caused Virgil to start, but with trembling hands he was able to retrieve his letter from his envelope. He slowly unfolded it. He closed his eyes, not wanting to catch an accidental glimpse before he was ready. Did he want to view all of his grades at once and get it over with, or view them one at a time?  
  
He decided that it was better just to get it over with. Summoning whatever courage he could muster in this instance, Virgil glanced down at the paper containing his NEWT grades.  
  
NASTILY EXHAUSTING WIZARDING TEST SCORES FOR VIRGIL CASEY THOMPSON  
  
ASTRONOMY - O  
CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES - E  
CHARMS - A  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - O  
POTIONS - E

Virgil's heart leapt at what he read. Not only had he passed all of his NEWT level classes, but he'd earned an E or an O in all but Charms?  
  
He couldn't deny that he was a little upset about his Charms grade - he'd tried _hard_ to improve in that class - but he'd earned an A on his OWL for that class as well, so it was undoubtedly his weakest class out of the five. He supposed he couldn't be too surprised that he'd scored the worst on his NEWT in that class. And he'd still _passed_ , he didn't have any failing grades on his NEWTs the way he did on his OWL.  
  
 _"Well, look at that. You're not crying,"_ Dee noted.  
  
Virgil shrugged, trying to look nonchalant about the whole thing, but the relieved smile that crossed his face despite his best efforts put a damper on that. Dee chuckled.  
  
Which Virgil took to mean that Dee's grades weren't terrible either. Virgil pointed to the paper in Dee's hands.  
  
 _"You want to see my scores and won't show me yours? That's hardly fair,"_ Dee scoffed. Virgil rolled his eyes and handed Dee his letter. Dee smirked and handed Virgil his.  
  
NASTILY EXHAUSTING WIZARDING TEST RESULTS FOR ADAM ALIGHIERO ACETI  
  
CHARMS - E  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - E  
HISTORY OF MAGIC - A  
POTIONS - O  
TRANSFIGURATION - E  
  
Despite taking different classes, Dee had a similar scattering of grades to Virgil's. Virgil did manage one more O, but he'd only missed a half a year of school as opposed to Dee's year and a half. Given that he had a lot to catch up on, Dee did quite well.   
  
_How'd you manage a better grade in Charms than me? Thought we did pretty similar work,_ Virgil wondered, pointing to Dee's 'E' grade.  
  
 _"Oh Virgil, it's a well known fact that I'm more charming than you are,"_ Dee taunted.  
  
Virgil smacked his brother with the envelope his letter came in.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Dee turned to Virgil with a smirk and went running for the door. _"Virgil failed all of his classes!"_ Dee shouted, albeit in a teasing tone that Renilda and Professor Picani would _hopefully_ see right through, and Virgil swatted at him as the two raced for the door.  
  
Dee reached the door first and pulled it open. Like Virgil, he was likely expecting to see Renilda or Professor Picani standing there.  
  
Instead, a bewildered looking Logan stood on the doorstep. _"You didn't really fail your classes, did you Virgil?"_  
  
Virgil proceeded to hiss at Dee as he motioned for Logan to step inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Virgil, Dee, and Logan made their way into the living room. Virgil and Logan sat on the couch while Dee plopped into one of the chairs.  
  
_"Virgil, you never answered my question. Did you really fail your classes?"_ Logan wondered.   
  
Dee burst into loud, high-pitched laughter at this, and Logan let out a sigh. _"I will interpret your brother's laughter as an indication that that is not the case."_  
  
Virgil grabbed a throw pillow and lobbed it at Dee's head, then turned to Logan and shook his head. He retrieved his letter and presented it to Logan.  
  
_"An O in Defense Against the Dark Arts, just as I was expecting. And in Astronomy as well? Impressive,"_ Logan observed.  
  
_Well I did stargaze and study with one of the best,_ Virgil wrote with a grin.  
  
_"Well, I..."_ Logan spluttered, immediately adjusting his glasses before retrieving his own NEWT results and handing them to Virgil.  
  
NASTILY EXHAUSTING WIZARDING TEST RESULTS FOR LOGAN DICAX  
  
ARITHMANCY - O  
ASTRONOMY - O  
CHARMS - O  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - O  
HERBOLOGY - O  
POTIONS - O  
TRANSFIGURATION - E  
  
Virgil shot Logan a thumbs up before handing the paper back to him. Logan returned a smile, but it looked oddly forced.   
  
_You ok?_ Virgil quickly scribbled.  
  
_"I'm content,"_ Logan replied, though Virgil did not find it in the least bit convincing.   
  
_"Is this about your grades?"_ Dee arched a brow, folding up his own test results into some sort of origami animal.  
  
Logan quickly shook his head. _Too_ quickly. Virgil recognized at once what Logan was upset about. _An E is fine, Lo. That's still really good._  
  
Logan let out a huff. _"What if it's not, though?"_ he muttered.  
  
_"Wait, you're freaking out over an E?"_ Dee snorted.  
  
Virgil shot him a glare that very plainly said 'butt out, Dee'.  
  
Dee shrugged. _"What? You said it yourself. An E's still really good."_  
  
_"Falsehood,"_ Logan grumbled. _"It may mean the difference between my attaining the job that I desire and being told that I do not meet their qualifications. And if I do not meet their qualifications..."_  
  
_"You'll be a failure,"_ Dee retorted. _"Seems reasonable enough."_  
  
Virgil shot an outraged glance at Dee. Logan, on the other hand, did not even bother to argue. _"Exactly."_  
  
Dee arched an eyebrow. _"Really? Is that really what you believe?"_  
  
Logan furrowed his brow in confusion. _"Of course it is. You said it yourself, rather succinctly I might add."_  
  
_"And you're willing to take the words of a guy who goes by the nickname of Deceit as law?"_ Dee said with a scoff.   
  
Logan frowned. Virgil reached over and took Logan's hand into his. _Even with that E, you still scored more Os than Dee and I even had classes._  
  
_"But no, I'm sure they won't take any of that into consideration. They'll just look at that big red E and it will hold you back for life,"_ Dee scoffed.   
  
Logan still looked skeptical, but he was sitting up in his seat, as if Virgil and Dee's words actually struck a chord with him. _"Perhaps..."_ he murmured.  
  
'Perhaps' was a start.  
  
_You're here early,_ Virgil noted.  
  
Logan cleared his throat. _"Yes, well...I had my reasons."_  
  
_"Afraid to show your parents?"_ Dee guessed.  
  
_"Yes, and I'm not even certain why. It's not as though they would be upset with me for an E. You've met them, they are quite kind, they would love me just the same. But...would I be as deserving of that love?"_  
  
_You'd be just as deserving even if you'd gotten all Ps, Lo,_ Virgil asserted as best as he could through writing. He even underlined the words 'just as deserving' a couple of times to emphasize them.  
  
Logan folded his arms across his chest, as if subconsciously trying to protect himself from something. From _himself_ , Virgil realized. Logan had himself convinced that his entire worth was his grades, but it _wasn't_. He was worth _so much more than that_.

 _"I'm just..."_ Logan faltered. _"Sometimes I feel as though my intelligence is the only thing I have to offer. If I cannot even attain an O in every subject, I have failed to live up to the standard that I've set for myself."_  
  
_"Really? And you can't think of anyone who might disagree with that statement?"_ Dee met Logan's gaze and tilted his head slightly toward Virgil, who was just finishing writing something on his pad.  
  
_"Yes, but-"_  
  
"But nothing," Virgil replied, looking Logan directly in the eyes. Logan blinked in surprise. Though Virgil knew that Logan would not understand the words that Virgil verbalized, his vocalizations caught Logan's attention, and the determined glint in his eyes did the rest.  
  
Virgil showed Logan the note that he'd written. _You saved my life on more than one occasion._  
  
Logan opened his mouth to argue, but Virgil shook his head firmly. _You brought me back from the prison that Linus trapped me in._  
  
By this point Logan was at a total loss for words, and Virgil took advantage of this to make his final point. He flipped to the last page he wrote. _And then you saved me from Linus again. So don't say your intelligence is your only value when the only reason I'm standing here is because of you._  
  
Logan let out a small huff, the corners of his mouth slowly creeping upward. _"Huh. I suppose I...I never thought of it that way."_  
  
Virgil gave his boyfriend a warm smile in return.  
  
_"I did have another reason to come to Diagon Alley today,"_ Logan confessed.  
  
_"Because you wanted to see your Virgy-poo?"_ Dee chimed in. Virgil could feel his face beating up at the nickname.  
  
_"Besides that,"_ Logan responded. _"Would you like to accompany me to Flourish and Blotts? I do intend to explore other career options, but I figure it will be nice to have steady employment while we search for more permanent positions within our chosen fields."_  
  
...Virgil still didn't _have_ a chosen field, other than a vague 'something to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts', so Virgil had his work cut out for him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't set off thinking that this first few chapters were going to be angsty but here we are oops. Hope you guys don't mind too much


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, Virgil and Logan wouldn't be able to work at Flourish and Blotts indefinitely while they searched for their dream jobs.  
  
 _"Oh sure, we'd love to have you for the summer months until you go back to Hogwarts!"_ Madam Legere smiled.  
  
 _"Actually, we were hoping for a more permanent position,"_ Logan clarified. _"We've since graduated."_  
  
Madam Legere's face fell, and Virgil _knew_ they were about to get bad news. He was half tempted to turn around and walk back out of the store. _"I'm sorry...we really only need employees for the summer season. I will let you know if any permanent positions open up, but for now I can only offer you temporary positions during the busy season."_  
  
 _"Very well then,"_ Logan replied. _"We will be searching for positions within our chosen careers even as we work here, so that arrangement will work well for us."_  
  
For _Logan_ , maybe. Logan knew what he wanted to do. Virgil was still trying to figure everything out. Virgil supposed it was better than nothing, and he would most certainly take this job while it was offered...but what would he do if he still did not have a job by September?  
  
 _"You seem quiet,"_ Logan noted as the two left with their schedules. They would be starting the following Monday. They made certain that Madam Legere knew about their obligations in the wedding, and she said she'd be certain to mark these dates on the calendar.  
  
Virgil motioned to his mouth and arched an eyebrow. He was quiet? When _wasn't_ he quiet? He couldn't exactly speak normally.  
  
 _"Allow me to clarify - You haven't written anything either,"_ Logan observed.  
  
Virgil shrugged.   
  
_"Something is bothering you,"_ Logan stated.  
  
Virgil shrugged once more, wishing that Logan would get off the subject.  
  
 _"Is it your NEWTs? We discussed mine, but I never stopped to ask how you felt about your grades. I apologize for that,"_ Logan continued.   
  
_My NEWTs are fine,_ Virgil wrote, stopping outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies so that he could concentrate on what he was doing rather than try to write and walk at the same time. _I just don't know what to do with them._  
  
 _"Don't know what to do with them? Well I imagine your mother and perhaps Professor Picani will want to see your results, at the very least,"_ Logan frowned.  
  
 _Not the paper with the results. The results themselves,_ Virgil clarified.  
  
 _"I'm not certain that I understand the diff-wait, are you referring to your career?"_  
  
At last Logan got it. Virgil nodded his head.  
  
 _"You are still uncertain as to which career path you would like to pursue."_ This wasn't a question on Logan's part. Logan _knew_ , and Logan knew that he knew. _"Did you not put more consideration into the matter while we were still in school?"_  
  
 _I didn't put it off to be lazy,_ Virgil scribbled in response. Were the comment made verbally, he probably would have snapped. It reminded him _far_ too much of Professor Foster's accusatory gaze on him. It wasn't that he didn't take his career after Hogwarts seriously. It was that he honestly didn't know what to do when the options for him were more limited than they were for most of his peers.  
  
 _"I wasn't meaning to suggest that you were,"_ Logan assured him. _"Why are you so hesitant to look for a proper career?"_  
  
Virgil's gaze grew stormy. On the one hand, he _knew_ it wasn't Logan's fault. He didn't know. He didn't have to put the same considerations into his career search. He could go after whatever job he wanted, and all that would matter would be his NEWT grades and other qualifications. _Would you hire someone who can't talk?_  
  
Logan's eyes grew wide. _"I...I hadn't considered..."_  
  
 _Lucky you,_ Virgil retorted.   
  
It wasn't _just_ that. Even if Virgil wasn't afflicted by a curse that hindered his ability to communicate verbally, he had a feeling that he'd still be stuck. There were so many options, and what if he went with the wrong one and couldn't get out? What if he found himself stuck at a job that made him miserable for the rest of his life?

 _"You will find something, I am certain of it,"_ Logan assured him.  
  
Easy for Logan to sa-  
  
No, it wasn't easy for Logan to say. Logan was worried about his future too. At least they had a little bit of buffer room, a summer job at Flourish and Blotts for the next month and a half while they tries to work out what they were going to do next with their lives.  
  
When they weren't preparing for and attending Roman and Patton's wedding, of course.  
  
 _"Ah, I foresee us catching up with a couple of our friends in the near future,"_ Logan blurted out suddenly.  
  
 _Yeah, they're all invited to the wedding,_ Virgil wrote with a grin. He had to admit that it would be nice catching up with people he hadn't seen in a while, like Elliott, Shane, and Paige.  
  
 _"I wasn't referring to the wedding,"_ Logan responded, catching Virgil off guard. What did he mean if not the wedding? Noting the befuddled look on Virgil's face, Logan let out a few chortles and pointed in the direction of the ice cream shop.

Elliott and Shane stood in line. Elliott was saying something to Shane, who laughed in response.  
  
 _"We should say hello. I am curious as to what they have been up to since we last saw them,"_ Logan admitted. _"I know that Era had maintained correspondence with Paige, at least."_  
  
Virgil and Logan approached Elliott and Shane. Virgil wondered how long it would take the two to notice. As the two continued to talk to one another, Virgil wondered if the two former Slytherins would notice their approach at all.  
  
Then Shane looked up and let out what Virgil could tell was a gasp even from the distance that he and Logan were at. Shane frantically tapped on Elliott's shoulder and pointed behind Elliott.  
  
Elliott turned in time to see Virgil and Logan stop just a few feet away from them.  
  
They grinned. _"Long time no see, fellas."_


	5. Chapter 5

After a quick exchange of hellos (and some angry glares from those standing in line behind Elliott and Shane; Diagon Alley's ice cream shop was _busy_ this time of year), Virgil and Logan trudged to the back of the line. They hadn't intended to cut by any means, merely catch up with two friends. But they could just as easily do that once they _all_ had their ice cream.  
  
By the time Virgil received his root beer float and Logan his single scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cone, Elliott and Shane already staked out a four person table for the group to sit at. Virgil and Logan slid into the two empty chairs.  
  
 _"Surprised you guys aren't out with Dee,"_ Elliott noted as they took a bite of their own ice cream cone.  
  
 _"We came from Flourish and Blotts. We will resume our temporary employment at the premises come Monday,_ Logan explained.

  
 _Dee didn't really want to tag along for that,_ Virgil added.  
  
Virgil could have sworn he heard Shane mutter 'good', but Elliott spoke before he had a chance to think about it too much.  
  
 _"Can't say I blame him. He find a job yet?"_ Elliott wondered.  
  
Shane peered around to make sure that no one was around to listen in. _"Isn't he still on the run?"_ he whispered.  
  
 _"Yes, but he uses a disguise now. In that disguise, he was able to complete his education at Hogwarts,"_ Logan explained.  
  
Shane furrowed his brow. _"That doesn't seem fair."_ The other three turned to him in surprise. _"What? I just don't think the fact that he nearly killed several people should be forgiven so easily!"_  
  
 _"I agree,"_ Logan replied. _"Which is why we delayed our acceptance of him until he proved that he's changed."_  
  
Shane sighed, running a hand through his hair. _"Yeah...if you guys are willing to forgive him, I can believe he's turned over a new leaf. It's just...it's hard for me."_  
  
Virgil understood at once where Shane was coming from. Shane suffered _directly_ at Dee's hand. Even with all of the steps that Dee took to right his wrongs, he still committed a number of particularly grievous wrongs - and it wouldn't be right to tell Shane that he _had_ to forgive Dee just because Dee turned over a new leaf. That was up to Shane, as the one who suffered at Dee's hand in the first place.  
  
Virgil knew because _he_ went through the same thing. His brother's actions landed him in St. Mungo's as well, and it took him a good while to forgive Dee for what he'd done. Even if Shane _never_ forgave Dee, he was fully within his rights to do so after what Dee did to him.  
  
He briefly wondered if he should tell Dee about this exchange, but decided against it. It wasn't his place. If a conversation happened, it needed to be on Dee and Shane's terms.  
  
 _"What about you guys?"_ Shane spoke up suddenly. _"What are you thinking of doing now that you're out of Hogwarts?"_ The grin on Shane's face was a little too forced, but Virgil recognized that Shane was trying to switch the subject. He didn't want to talk about Dee any longer, and Virgil would respect that.  
  
It just would have been nice if Shane shifted the topic of conversation to something that didn't make _Virgil_ uncomfortable in turn.  
  
 _"I intend to pursue a career in Potions. I hear that they are looking for Potioneers to assist the Healers at St. Mungo's,"_ Logan informed them.  
  
 _"What about you, Virge?"_ Elliott turned their attention to Virgil.  
  
Virgil's mouth went dry as Shane's attention shifted to him as well. _DADA_ Virgil wrote the only thing that came to mind.  
  
 _"But what in DADA? There's so many options!"_ Shane pressed on.  
  
 _"I believe that he is still...I believe the phrase is 'weighing his options'? Is that correct, Virgil?"_ Logan turned to Virgil, slipping Virgil's hand into his on their side of the table and giving it a squeeze. Virgil let out a mental sigh of relief, glad that Logan stepped in and explained the situation much better than he could have managed at this point in time.  
  
 _"Which one's correct, that you're weighing your options or that 'weighing his options' was the right phrasing?"_ Elliott smirked.  
  
 _Both,_ Virgil jotted in reply.  
  
 _"I know of a couple of departments that are hiring at the Ministry, if you want me to look into it for you guys?"_ Shane proposed.  
  
 _"That would be much appreciated, thank you,"_ Logan replied.   
  
Virgil shook his head. _I'd rather stay away from the Ministry, thanks,_ he wrote.  
  
 _"Why? That's cutting out a lot of job opportunities, isn't it?"_ Shane frowned.

 _The Council said that Linus was able to infiltrate some of the Ministry,_ Virgil explained.   
  
_"...ouch, yeah, good point,"_ Elliott frowned.  
  
 _"Jeez, that doesn't make me feel too great about working for them,"_ Shane sighed.  
  
 _"What do you do for the Ministry?"_ Logan inquired.  
  
 _"Security,"_ Shane replied.  
  
 _"At least that's a job that you could get at multiple locations,"_ Elliott reasoned. _"All sorts of places in the wizarding world need security, not just the Ministry."_  
  
 _And you don't have to stop working at the Ministry just cause I don't wanna work there,_ Virgil clarified.  
  
Shane shrugged. _"We'll see how things go."_  
  
 _"What about you, Elliott? What have you been doing since you graduated?"_ Logan asked.  
  
 _"Been working at Twilfitt and Tattings. I actually kinda like it there. I thought it would be really stuffy, but they like my style and said they wanted to see if I could design a couple of outfits that they could look over,"_ Elliott grinned.  
  
At least Shane and Elliott didn't seem to mind their jobs. That gave Virgil a bit more hope than he had before.  
  
The group parted ways soon after that, agreeing that they needed to meet up in Diagon Alley like this more often now that Virgil and Logan were out of school. They just had to be certain to coordinate work schedules with all of their jobs.  
  
Virgil and Logan stepped into Renilda's flat. Virgil immediately went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, while Logan retrieved a book from the bookshelf and went for one of the chairs.  
  
That was all Virgil saw until he heard a strangled sounded yelp from the living room and doubled back.  
  
Logan very nearly sat on a two-foot long yellow snake. Logan eyed the snake and folded his arms across his chest. _"How amusing, Dee."_  
  
 _"Did I hear you say my name?"_ Dee called out, entering the room from the opposite direction. Logan's eyes widened almost comically as he realized that his initial assumption was wrong.  
  
 _"You...but..."_ Logan gestured from the snake to Dee, then back again. The snake on the couch was _not_ Dee, which meant that they just had a _random snake in their living room_. How did it even get there? Fortunately, Virgil and Logan did not have to wait long for an answer.  
  
 _"Ohhhhhhh, there you are sweetie,"_ Dee cooed, making his way over to the snake on the loveseat. He lifted it gingerly and proceeded to place it around his shoulders. _"I see the two of you have met Samantha."_


	6. Chapter 6

Virgil eyed the snake around Dee's shoulders. It - _she_ \- looked remarkably similar to Dee's animagus form, so he could understand why Logan immediately jumped to that assumption.   
  
But their scales _did_ follow different patterns, something Virgil noticed almost immediately. Not because he was particularly observant when it came to snakes, but rather because Dee posed as his pet snake while in his animagus form a couple of years before.  
  
 _"...excuse me?"_ Logan stared at the serpent around Dee's shoulders.  
  
 _"There there, it's alright,"_ he assured Samantha, running his hand over her scales in what Virgil assumed was supposed to be a comforting way. Then he turned his focus back to Logan. _"You scared her, Logan! You really ought to apologize."_  
  
Logan gaped. _"...pardon? Apologize...to a snake?"_  
  
 _"Well you did nearly sit on the poor dear!"_ Dee replied.  
  
 _"The 'poor dear' as you deemed her turned up on the couch without any advanced warning!"_ Logan insisted.  
  
 _"A likely story,"_ Dee scoffed.  
  
 _"I...you know what? This is absurd,"_ Logan declared, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. _"Your...where did you even obtain this serpent?"_  
  
 _"The Magical Menagerie,"_ Dee replied. Virgil could practically hear the 'duh' that Dee neglected to add within Dee's voice.  
  
 _"I was not aware that you possessed a snake. How was I to know that I should look for snakes before I seat myself? It had never been a concern in all my prior visits to this flat,"_ Logan argued.  
  
 _As long as she doesn't eat Charlotte I'm cool with her,_ Virgil scribbled out for his brother to read. Storm, as a cat, could handle herself against a snake. Virgil's pet tarantula, on the other hand...he made a mental note to snake-proof Charlotte's enclosure.

 _"Her appearance is similar to your animagus form,"_ Logan observed.  
  
 _"Of course,"_ Dee responded.  
  
 _"I do wonder...I know that you are not a Parselmouth, but are you able to communicate with Samantha while you are in your animagus form?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
 _"Oh yes. Just yesterday, we had an in-depth conversation about Greek philosophers!"_ Dee told him.  
  
 _"Really?"_ Logan's eyes were wide. _"I have always wondered if animagi could communicate with animals of the same species as their animagus form..."_ Logan looked as though he was ready to ask a thousand questions.  
  
Dee let out a snort. _"Logan, how on Earth would a snake know anything about Greek philosophers, let alone enough to carry on an in-depth conversation?"_  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes. _"That was entirely uncalled for."_  
  
 _"So was nearly sitting on my poor Samantha!"_ Dee retorted.  
  
 _Does mum know about the snake?_ Virgil wrote.   
  
_"Of course she does!"_ Dee replied quickly. _Too_ quickly.  
  
 _"You did not ask her before you purchased the snake, did you?"_ Logan smirked, clearly still a bit miffed at Dee's trick.  
  
 _"I'm sure she'll be fine with it!"_ Dee waved his hand.  
  
 _"Fine with what?"_ a voice called out from behind them. The three young men turned to see the image of Renilda's face within the flames in the fireplace.  
  
Dee yelped in surprise and nearly fell over. Virgil and Logan could barely contain themselves.  
  
 _"I wanted to let the three of you know that I will be a bit late for dinner. The Healer that is supposed to relieve me will be coming in later, so I will be picking up a couple of extra hours,"_ Renilda informed them. _"Emile should be home soon, though."_  
  
 _"Understood. Thank you, Ms. Nyx,"_ Logan responded.  
  
 _"Of course, mother,"_ Dee agreed. Virgil nodded. Renilda's eyes fell upon Dee, and Dee immediately tensed up.  
  
 _"What is that around your shoulders, Lionel?"_ Renilda arched an eyebrow.  
  
 _"...nothing..."_ Dee replied with all of the confidence of a man with his hand stuck in the cookie jar.  
  
 _"It doesn't look like nothing,"_ Renilda noted. _"It looks like a snake."_  
  
Dee glanced down at Samantha. _"I could see where you might get that impression..."_  
  
Renilda shook her head. _"You really ought to have told me before you purchased it..."_  
  
 _"Her,"_ Dee corrected his mother automatically, then immediately covered his hand with his mouth as soon as he realized that he'd essentially _admitted_ that he had a snake around his shoulders. There could be no plausible deniability after Dee went so far as to indicate that Samantha was a 'she'.  
  
Renilda sighed, a bemused expression visible on her face even through the flames. _"She, then. You should have told me that you were going to purchase her."_  
  
 _"I suppose you want me to take her back to the Magical Menagerie?"_ Dee frowned. Virgil and Logan exchanged glances. Though Logan was still annoyed with Dee's teasing from earlier, neither of them actually thought that Dee should get _rid_ of the snake that he was clearly so fond of.  
  
 _"No. You can keep her,"_ Renilda declared. Dee's eyes lit up at once. _"But,"_ Renilda added, pausing for effect.  
  
 _"But?"_ Dee furrowed his brow.   
  
_"But there will be some ground rules. For Renata's safety, I don't want that snake out of your room unless you keep an eye on it at all times,"_ Renilda instructed him.  
  
 _"Understood,"_ Dee replied.  
  
 _"Secondly, what does she eat?"_ Renilda questioned.  
  
 _"Mice,"_ Dee replied.  
  
 _"No crickets?"_ Renilda clarified.  
  
 _"No crickets,"_ Dee confirmed.   
  
_"I will pick up some mice on the way home,"_ Renilda announced. _"But I expect you to pay for her food once you are able to."_  
  
Dee nodded once more to showcase that he understood.

 _"I'll pick up some owl and cat food while I'm there as well. Charlotte eats crickets and worms, right?"_ Renilda checked.  
  
Virgil nodded in reply.  
  
 _"Oh, one more thing. Logan, does your owl need anything?"_ Renilda questioned.  
  
Logan shook his head at once. _"Negative, but thank you for asking Ms. Nyx."_  
  
Renilda smiled. _"Well, I ought to get back to work. My break is about over. I'll see you in a few hours!"_  
  
The three waved as the image of Renilda's head faded from the fire.

 _"Well, looks like the two of you are stuck with Samantha. How terrible,"_ Dee chuckled, stroking the top of Samantha's head once more.  
  
 _"How terrible indeed,"_ Logan retorted, though judging from the way the corners of his mouth twitched upward when he said this? Dee wasn't the one lying this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Virgil and Logan entered the living room wearing their most Muggle looking clothes as possible. This was easiest for Logan, who had a Muggle mother. Virgil, who preferred hoodies over robes, wasn't about to complain either.  
  
Unlike a certain _someone_.  
  
 _"...do we have to do this?"_ Dee grumbled as he stepped out of his bedroom. Virgil was fairly certain that Dee was wearing that _exact_ outfit when Virgil first met him as Adam at the beginning of the prior school year, meaning that this was likely the same outfit that Dee wore to King's Cross the year before.  
  
 _"Of course not. You are welcome to stay home if you so desire, your attendance is not a requirement,"_ Logan replied. _"With that said, you may find it difficult to find a proper outfit for the wedding if you do not join us."_  
  
 _"Why Muggle London, though? What's there?"_ Dee raised an eyebrow.  
  
 _"Oh, there is plenty in Muggle London. I would argue that there are far more locales in Muggle London than there are in wizarding London. The wizarding population is considerably less than the Muggle population, after all,"_ Logan further noted.  
  
Dee let out a sigh. _"It's just that other than Kings Cross..."_  
  
 _"You've never been to Muggle London?"_ Logan guessed. _"To be fair, you are not alone. Virgil has never been to Muggle London either."_  
  
And if Virgil had to be honest, he was just as excited about that as he was nervous. He wasn't as hopelessly sheltered from information about the Muggle world as _some_ purebloods were, owing to his friends and Professor Picani, but he wasn't exactly a walking encyclopedia of knowledge pertaining to the Muggle world either. And while some considered the wizarding world to be far superior to the Muggle world, Virgil knew enough about both worlds to recognize that they _both_ had strengths and weaknesses.  
  
Wizards, of course, had _magic_. Their technology, however, was hopelessly and stubbornly behind the Muggle world's. He heard Patton giggling over the wizarding world's lack of lightbulbs, Logan was aghast at the wizarding world's lack of _computers_. Even Professor Picani found it a darn shame that the majority of wizarding children did not even know who Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were. The Muggle world, on the other hand, had _technology_ , but magic was something scarcely seen, typically regarded as something only seen in fictional narratives and the occasional Muggle 'magic' trick. _Real_ magic was something the wizarding world took pains to hide, save for the lucky few who were either related to Muggleborn magicians or their knowledge of wizardkind somehow managed to elude the Ministry's notice.  
  
He imagined the latter was exceedingly rare, though.  
  
 _"How are we getting to our destination? Are we taking the Knight Bus?"_ Dee wondered.  
  
 _NO,_ Virgil wrote in huge letters. He recalled his last ride on the Knight Bus to visit a maternal aunt at the age of fourteen. He nearly threw up by the end of their journey. It wasn't an experience that he was eager to repeat.  
  
 _"Don't worry, we'll make sure to bring a trash can along this time,"_ Dee taunted. Virgil knew that Dee was thinking of the same incident and rolled his eyes.  
  
 _"...I am not familiar with the Knight Bus, but I assume from your reactions that it is not exactly premium transportation?"_ Logan asked.  
  
Dee let out a snort. _"It is if your idea of premium transportation involves you not drinking the hot chocolate you ordered, but rather watching it spill everywhere."_  
  
 _"That hardly sounds ideal,"_ Logan frowned.  
  
 _"Not if you have hot chocolate,"_ Dee chuckled.

 _"We will be meeting my parents at the Leaky Cauldron. Then, my parents will drive us to the restaurant where we are to meet Roman and Patton,"_ Logan explained.  
  
 _"Will your mother even be able to enter the Leaky Cauldron? She's a Muggle, isn't she?"_ Dee wondered.  
  
 _"Yes, but she will be accompanied by my father, a wizard,"_ Logan informed Dee. _"The illusory enchantments may still affect her, I am not 100% certain. I will have to ask her. Regardless, once she enters the Leaky Cauldron itself, it will appear as it does to you or I. It is merely the outside of the Leaky Cauldron that is enchanted to repel Muggles with its appearance as a broken-down old shop front nestled between a bookstore and a music store. I expect that the illusion should be broken as soon as she crossed the barrier."_  
  
Virgil had to admit that he looked forward to seeing Logan's parents again. He rather liked them, and he could easily see parts of Logan in both of them. The way Mrs. Dicax grew excited over every new discovery...Logan's reactions to his own new discoveries were a little more muted, but they were still _there_.   
  
Virgil, Logan, and Dee made their way to the door. They heard Renilda call out from the next room. _"Just give me a moment to get Renata ready, then we can head to the Leaky Cauldron!"_  
  
 _"...we?"_ Logan looked to Virgil and Dee for clarification. Virgil and Dee both shrugged; this was news to them as well.  
  
 _"Unless you would rather I stay home? I will respect your decision if that is the case,"_ Renilda entered the room with Renata fastened in her carrier.   
  
The three exchanged glances. Virgil and Dee both shrugged; Virgil didn't have an issue with Renilda tagging along with them to the Leaky Cauldron, and it didn't look as though Dee minded either. Noting the reaction of the two Thompsons, Logan decided to speak up. _"I do not believe that any of us is opposed to your accompanying us, though I must admit that I am curious as to why you wish to do so?"_  
  
Virgil was too, admittedly. He knew it wasn't a matter of chaperoning them, because she had no issue with their going out on their own in the past. There had to be _some_ reason she was so eager to go now.  
  
And then it hit Virgil - Just prior to her announcement that she wished to accompany them, Logan talked about his _parents_ waiting for them at the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
Renilda wanted to meet the Dicaxes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admittedly wanted to include a scene where the Dicaxes came over to Renilda's flat for dinner a couple of installments ago, but decided against it because this was before the point when Dee had a consistent disguise for himself. Now, though, he does, and...better later than never for meetings between parents? XD


	8. Chapter 8

Virgil, Dee, Logan and Renilda (with little Renata in her carrier of course) entered the Leaky Cauldron. Virgil and Logan, as the only two present who _knew_ the Dicaxes, immediately scanned the room for any sight of the couple.  
  
_"Ah, there they are. If you all would follow me..."_ Logan announced.  
  
It didn't take long for Virgil to spot them, especially with Logan leading them in his parents' direction.  
  
The Dicaxes recognized Virgil and Logan approaching and waved.

 _"Virgil! It's so nice to see you again!"_ Tara greeted him with a smile. Virgil nodded with a smile of his own.  
  
_"And this must be Adam. We have heard a lot about you, young man,"_ Armand told Dee.  
  
_"All good things I hope?"_ Dee asked.   
  
Armand chuckled. _"Of course! Logan is quite fond of you."_  
  
_"Is he now?"_ Dee smiled. When Armand and Tara looked away to focus on Renilda, Dee arched an eyebrow and flashed Logan a smirk. Logan rolled his eyes, and Virgil had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing at the exchange.  
  
_"And you must be...honestly, I'm not 100% certain, Logan told us we'd only be meeting with him and a couple of his friends?"_ Tara eyed Renilda curiously.  
  
_"Renilda, mother to Virgil and...I suppose you can call me a stepmother of sorts to Adam here,"_ Renilda explained.  
  
_"Oh, Renilda! I've heard so much about you too! Thank you for allowing our son to stay with you while he is in Diagon Alley!"_ Tara grinned.  
  
_"Thank you for your hospitality when Virgil has come over to visit your home as well,"_ Renilda replied.  
  
_Who's the little one?"_ Armand wondered, pointing to Renata who was sleeping soundly in her carrier at this point.  
  
_"Oh, this is Renata, the newest addition to our family!"_ Renilda smiled.  
  
_"Renata. That's a very pretty name, I like it,"_ Tara noted. _"How old is she?"_  
  
_"Two months,"_ Renilda replied.

It seemed as though Renilda and the Dicaxes were getting along so far. That was a good sign.   
  
_"I must say, you have done a fine job raising Virgil. You should be proud. He's grown into a great young man,"_ Armand told her warmly.  
  
Virgil could feel his face beating up, and he was tempted to throw up his hood and hide underneath it. Yes it was a _compliment_ , but Virgil still didn't know how to react - especially when he overheard Dee whispering _"awwwwwww"_ next to him teasingly.  
  
Renilda, to her credit, did a much better job thinking on her feet than Virgil did. _"You did well with Logan too. He's a delightful young man to have around our home when he comes to stay with us, and he is welcome at any time."_  
  
Logan cleared his throat and adjust his tie on the other side of Virgil. Virgil felt sympathy for his boyfriend, knowing full well what it felt like, but he was undoubtably _relieved_ that he wasn't the only one going through this.   
  
_"Perhaps we should stop. I think we're embarrassing them. Not that either of you are wrong, mind,"_ Tara said with a knowing grin and a wink.  
  
Virgil and Logan blushed harder, and Dee could not keep himself from snickering at that point.  
  
_"I'm not certain how much you have heard in regards to my partner, Emile..."_ Renilda began.  
  
Tara beamed. _"Oh, we've heard plenty! He's the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts and has helped our Logan through some pretty tough spots!"_  
  
Tara declined to mention what those tough spots were and how Professor Picani helped, much to Logan's relief. Virgil surreptitiously reached over and squeezed Logan's hand, wanting to comfort Logan but not draw too much attention to it.  
  
What he discussed with Professor Picani was his to divulge and no one else's, after all, and he didn't want to put Logan on the spot more than he already was. He knew _all too well_ what that felt like.

 _"Adam has grown a lot as a person as well,"_ Renilda added.   
  
Dee turned to look at her in surprise. He clearly expected the 'let's gush about our offspring' conversation to be kept only to Virgil and Logan.  
  
_"I'm sure you heard about what he did during the Fiendfyre attack in Hogsmeade,"_ Renilda cast a warm smile toward her eldest son, and Virgil knew immediately that she was taking extra care to include her eldest son, knowing that he'd come a long way and deserved to be recognized for the strides that he made.  
  
And Virgil agreed.  
  
_"We did. That was incredibly brave, young man,"_ Armand informed him. _"You should be very proud of your actions. Your stepmother clearly is, and I am as well."_  
  
Dee was at a loss for words, still not used to hearing that sort of praise directed toward him.  
  
_"Did they ever find out who carried out that attack?"_ Tara frowned. _"I always wanted to visit Hogsmeade, but...the things I've heard...and if they're still out there..."_   
  
An ill feeling began to grow within Virgil's stomach as he realized that Tara not only didn't know if she would be welcome in Hogsmeade, but feared for her _safety_ in Hogsmeade, knowing that there were vocal and _violent_ people who disapproved of the circumstances of her birth.  
  
And she brought it up so _casually_ , almost like an aside. It was as if she was almost _used_ to being seen as a second-class citizen where the wizarding world was concerned.  
  
It was something that Virgil hadn't had to spare much thought to, admittedly, because he was a _pureblood_ and his presence was never questioned in that way. No one opposed his presence to the point of _violence_. He knew it impacted people that he cared about, like Patton and his family, but the thought that Tara was afraid to even step part in certain areas of the wizarding world because she feared she wouldn't be welcomed...  
  
It was a sobering thought, to say the least.  
  
Inevitably, the conversation continued on. Renilda assured Tara that they did not catch the precise perpetrator or perpetrators, though they strong suspected a connection with a pureblood supremacist group. Virgil did not fail to notice the way that Tara not only flinched at that but glanced at Logan, as if she were afraid that _he_ might fall victim as a _half-blood_.  
  
And...she wasn't wrong to be afraid. Not in the least.  
  
By the time the group parted and Virgil, Logan, and Dee piled into the backseat of the Dicaxes car and bid farewell to Renilda and Renata (Renilda lifting Renata's little hand to try to teach her how to wave, cutely enough), they had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I set out to write this chapter, I didn't intend for it to get as serious as it did toward the end. But in light of recent events in the U.S (one occurring literally right down the road from a place I went to while I was on vacation a couple of months ago)...I felt like I had to make some sort of commentary. My writing is often how I cope with things that seem out of my control, and this fanfic series is no different.


	9. Chapter 9

Virgil couldn't help but notice that Tara seemed a _lot_ more in her element once they exited the Leaky Cauldron and entered Muggle London. She was back in a place where she felt less like a fish out of water and it showed.  
  
 _"So, have either of you ridden in a car before?"_ Tara smiled back at them in the rearview mirror while they were at a stoplight.  
  
It was a lot to take in. He wasn't as ignorant of the Muggle world as some pureblood were, but it was one thing to know _some_ things about Muggle society and another to find himself fully immersed in it all at once. It wasn't just the Dicaxes' car he had to get used to, but the cars and buses surrounding them.   
  
_Knight Bus,_ Virgil wrote, then showed to Dee and Logan so that they would be able to pass the message forward to Tara.   
  
Dee let out a snort, so Logan decided that he would provide Virgil's response. _"They have ridden the Knight Bus,"_ he informed his parents.  
  
 _"The Knight Bus? What's that? Is that a wizarding bus? I wasn't aware that the wizarding world even had buses!"_ Tara asked.   
  
_"It's...something else, that bus,"_ Armand said with a snort. _"Owing to the fact that it travels via magic, it's not exactly bound by the same laws as our vehicles."_  
  
 _"Well no, I wouldn't expect it to be,"_ Tara replied. _"Magic in itself disobeys the laws of physics as we Muggles know them!"_  
  
Virgil had a feeling that the laws of physics weren't the sort of laws that Armand intended to refer to, but the fact that she immediately jumped to that reminded Virgil fondly over her son, and he could not help but smile.  
  
 _"Not those sorts of laws, love. I was referring to traffic laws,"_ Armand chuckled. _"Though you're certainly correct - The Knight Bus does not obey the laws of physics as Muggles know them."_  
  
 _"I still think its neat that the wizarding world has a bus! I thought they only had a train in terms of vehicular transportation. I mean I know there are things like Floo Powder and Apparation and...what was it called that one time you used an old boot to travel somewhere, Armand?"_ Tara questioned.  
  
 _"Oh, that would be a portkey, mother,"_ Logan noted.  
  
Virgil threw his hood up over his head and stared out the window. He didn't want to appear rude, but it wasn't as though he could converse with the Dicaxes much when Tara was driving and when Armand was looking ahead of himself most of the time by nature of the design of the car.   
  
So he kept quiet, only listening in on occasion if something came up that caught his interest.  
  
 _"Why do you keep stopping at these lights to let the other cars pass?"_ Dee wondered.  
  
 _"I'm...not certain what you mean?"_ Tara responded, confusion in her voice.

 _"Why are you stopping at the lights?"_ Dee repeated, as if asking his question all over again would attain different results.   
  
_"They're stoplights,"_ Tara said with a frown. _"They're to facilitate traffic. When the light is red going this way, it signals that we're supposed to stop. While we're stopped, the crossroad's light turns green, and they are allowed to go. Their light will turn yellow, warning them to stop, and then red. Then our light will turn green and we can go."_  
  
Dee furrowed his brow. _"Why not just change the width and size of your car to dart in and out of traffic? That's what the Knight Bus does."_  
  
Virgil very nearly asked himself the same question, but caught himself before writing it out. It was easy for Virgil and Dee to think along those lines; magic was second nature to them, and their only experience with an automobile prior to this was the Knight Bus. That said...  
  
 _"The Knight Bus is magic. This car is not. It goes back to what we were discussing before - The rules are different in the wizarding world and the Muggle world,"_ Armand explained with a chuckle. _"This car is unable to accomplish such feats. We could probably charm it to do so, but why? It accomplishes its job well enough in the Muggle world. If we were to convert it to a mode of transportation used in the wizarding world, however, I would suggest putting such spells on it as that would be expected from a wizarding vehicle. The Ministry of Magic has automobiles, for example, that are charmed to be far roomier on the inside than they appear from the outside."_  
  
 _"Huh. And Logan actually manages to keep all of these differences straight?"_ Dee gaped.  
  
 _"First off, I don't keep anything straight,"_ Logan retorted. Virgil and Tara simultaneously snickered, and Armand cracked a grin. Dee let out a huff, but even he couldn't resist a begrudging smile.  
  
He left the opportunity wide open for Logan to take, after all.  
  
 _"Secondly, it is how I grew up. As someone raised by both a Muggle and a wizard, I am heavily acquainted with both worlds. My knowledge has never been confined to just one world or the other. I have always known and experienced both worlds. I don't know anything else,"_ Logan elaborated. _"In truth, I find it amazing that so many Muggles and so many wizards live in ignorance of how the other lives."_

The car fell silent after that, no one really knowing how to respond to a pronouncement like that.

Tara turned onto a new street and took it as an opportunity to break the awkward silence. _"The restaurant should be down here. If there's one thing that both Muggles and wizards do similarly, its food,"_ she grinned. _"Everybody has to eat."_  
  
Tara pulled up to the restaurant so that Virgil, Logan, and Dee could climb out of the car.  
  
 _"Are you going to join us?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
Armand smiled and shook his head. _"Thank you for the invitation, but nah. We have a bit of shopping to do. You have your phone with you, right?"_  
  
Logan checked his pocket and nodded. _"Call us when and if you need a ride back to the Leaky Cauldron!"_ Tara called out with a smile.   
  
Virgil, Logan, and Dee watched as the Dicaxes pulled away.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't hard for Virgil, Logan, and Dee to find Roman and Patton upon entering the restaurant - Patton immediately jumped up from his seat and began to wave his hands back and forth.  
  
 _"Pat, Pat, I think they see us,"_ was the first thing that Virgil heard as their group approached the table.  
  
Patton took a seat, smiling sheepishly. _"I just wanted to make sure they saw us..."_  
  
Roman chuckled, placing his hand under Patton's chin and guiding the former Hufflepuff's face toward him.  
  
 _"Hmmm?"_ Patton hummed, then realized what Roman was doing and giggled. He leaned forward, and the two shared a quick peck on the lips.  
  
 _"How have you guys been?"_ Patton asked once he and Roman pulled away from one another.  
  
 _"Absolutely horrid,"_ Deceit responded without hesitation.  
  
Patton's face fell.  
  
 _"Sarcasm,"_ Dee said by way of explanation and shrugged. Patton let out a sigh of relief.   
  
_"Virgil and I have attained our old jobs at Flourish and Blotts while we search for more gainful employment,"_ Logan noted in a low tone.  
  
 _"Awww, that's great! I got my old job at Magical Menagerie back, but with an added bonus! They have a couple of vets...er, animal Healers there to look after the animals, and I'm going to shadow them to learn the ropes!"_ Patton beamed. He made no effort to speak in anything other than normal volume.  
  
Dee arched an eyebrow at this. He surreptitiously waved his wand under the table. Virgil was the only one who noticed.  
  
 _"Alas, I have yet to gain employ,"_ Roman said with a sigh.  
  
 _"Join the club,"_ Dee drawled, holding out his hand for a high five. Roman quickly met Dee's hand with his own.  
  
Logan arched a brow at that. _"I fail to see how unemployment is something to be celebrated..."_  
  
Roman huffed. _"It's a joke? Of course I want to get a job, I just haven't been able to find one and I don't feel as though I should work too hard on it until after the wedding."_  
  
 _"So long as you plan to search for a job at some point in the near future,"_ Logan said warningly.  
  
 _"Or what, you'll force me at wandpoint to do so? I'd like to see you try!"_ Roman retorted, speaking _far_ too loud for Virgil's liking.   
  
Though no one was looking their way yet...  
  
 _"Roman, you complete dunderhead!"_ Logan snapped.  
  
 _"What? Don't want to admit that I'd best you in a wizard's duel?"_ Roman announced haughtily.  
  
 _"No you idiot, we are surrounded by Muggles and you have no regard as to how loudly you are speaking of wands and wizard's duels!"_ Logan hissed.  
  
Roman paled. _"Oh crap."_  
  
 _"Yes, 'oh crap',"_ Logan scoffed, then turned his attention to the restaurant surrounding them to see who was staring.  
  
...still no one.  
  
Dee started to snicker. Virgil's eyes widened, and his face slowly broke out into a grin as he realized what Dee was doing earlier.  
  
 _"What are you laughing at?"_ Patton blinked in confusion.  
  
 _"We don't have to worry about what we're saying if the sound is muffled to anyone other than us and those who come within a few feet of the table, do we?"_ Dee inquired.  
  
 _"Of course not, but who here is willing to take that chance?"_ Logan pressed forward.  
  
 _No one,_ Virgil wrote.  
  
 _"You know, I'm surprised you weren't the one to think of it first, but I suppose you were more focused on the little spat you just had with Roman,"_ Dee chuckled.  
  
Logan frowned. _"Think of what first?"_ he echoed Dee's prior statement.  
  
 _Muffliato,_ Virgil wrote. Logan's eyes widened.  
  
Roman laughed and gave Dee another high five. _"Brilliant thinking, Dee!"_  
  
 _"Yes, that was very proactive of you, Dee,"_ Logan conceded.  
  
 _"You're welcome,"_ Dee smirked.  
  
Not much of note happened during the meal itself, as the quintet were more focused on eating than carrying out any meaningful discussion.

Their next stop after the restaurant would be a shopping area.   
  
_"We wanted to go with Muggle fashion for the wedding rather than wizarding fashion. Dress robes are so drab! Tuxedos are just the right mixture of class and style,"_ Roman announced as soon as they were done eating.  
  
Dressing up wasn't really Virgil's thing, whether said fashions be wizard or Muggle. If he could attend the wedding in his hoodie he _would_ , but he knew that he had to at least exude _some_ effort. He wanted the wedding between two of his best friends to go well, after all.  
  
And thus far, everything seemed to be going as planned.   
  
Which, of course, meant that _something_ would inevitably go wrong.  
  
Virgil frowned as a shudder passed through him. For a split second, he felt almost as though he - or they - were being watched.   
  
He turned and saw no one, causing him to furrow his brow. He was probably just imagining things...but what if he wasn't? Should he investigate further?  
  
 _"Earth to Emo!"_ Roman called out, diverting Virgil's attention back to his friends.  
  
 _"Are you coming with us?"_ Patton chimed in.  
  
Virgil nodded, still somewhat jarred, but his friends were waiting for him. He chewed on his lip as he did one final visual sweep of the area. Not spying anything out of the ordinary, Virgil hurried to rejoin his friends.

He figured that his friends would assure him that he was being overly cautious, and they would probably be correct. There was no reason to believe that anyone was watching them when no one was even _looking_ in their direction when he scanned the restaurant...  
  
He missed the way an elderly man and elderly woman who sat nearby exchanged knowing glances and smirked after he and his friends left. The 'couple' quickly paid for their meal and set off to go shopping.  
  
 _"Where to next, Delia?"_ the man asked, arching a brow.  
  
'Delia' grinned. _"I believe that you are in the market for a new tux."_  
  
The man let out a sigh. _"But tux shopping sounds so boooooring."_  
  
 _"Oh, I can assure you there are ways to spice things up. You'll see soon enough..."_


	11. Chapter 11

Virgil wasn't sure what to expect. It certainly wasn't an _entire store_ filled with dress clothes for men. Did Muggles really have specialized stores for every little thing? The wizarding world had specialized stores as well, but the thought of a store dedicated to _one particular_ type of robe dedicated to _one particular_ gender expression seemed a little over the top.  
  
Then again, there were fewer wizards in the UK than there were Muggles, and they took up a lot less area. As such, they needed fewer stores to cater to everyone- especially when some of those wizards were Muggleborns and half-bloods who had access to these sorts of stores _anyway_.  
  
 _"Hello! How can I assist you today?"_ a young man asked as he approached the quintet.

 _"We're the party here for the wedding between Roman Prince and-"_ Roman began, but was cut off by another worker approaching.  
  
 _"So this is the 1pm wedding party! We'd be delighted to help you. I can take a couple of you over here...Patton and Virgil?"_ they glanced at the group. Patton stepped forward at once, Virgil not far behind. They smiled at once. _"Follow me, I already have a couple of tuxes picked out for you to try on that fit the specifications you provided!"_  
  
Virgil turned to Patton, presuming that said specifications were provided by Patton and Roman. Sure enough, Patton clapped his hands together in excitement, seeming to know _exactly_ what the shop worker was referring to. _"Thank you so much! Oh! In case you need to know who we are to give us the right tuxes..."_ Patton pointed to Virgil first. _"That's Virgil. He uses he/him pronouns."_ He then gestured to himself. _"Patton, also he/him pronouns!"_  
  
The shop worker smiled back. _"Finley, they/them pronouns. It's a pleasure to meet you both."_ Virgil wasn't entirely sure what 'specifications' Patton and Roman provided. Sizes, perhaps? But even those would have to be best guesses, which Virgil supposed was the reason why Virgil, Logan, and Dee had to accompany them, to at least _try on_ the tuxes to make sure that they fit.  
  
As Virgil would soon discover, it was a _tad_ more complicated than that.  
  
Virgil could hear the faint voices of Logan, Roman, Dee, and the initial assistant to greet them fade as he, Patton, and Finley entered a side room.

There were various tuxes and suits sorted into groups, some hanging on hangers while others were laid against counters in small piles. Each had a piece of paper taped to them. Virgil assumed these pieces of paper had the name of the person or persons they were reserved for, as Finley glanced after several of these sheets before they spotted the one they were looking for. They removed the slip of paper, crumpling it up and tossing it into a nearby wastebasket.  
  
 _"Here we go. Two tuxes, one in purple and one in light blue. We can easily substitute the size and style for a different one if you would like. We also included matching ties as you requested,"_ Finley explained.  
  
Patton happily accepted the set in light blue, then handed the purple one over to Virgil, who blinked in surprise.  
  
"Purple?" he mouthed, hoping that Patton would understand.  
  
Patton's smile fell. _"Yeah, I thought purple was your favorite color. Is it not? I can get Finley to get you a different color..."_  
  
Virgil shook his head, quickly retrieving his pad and paper from his pocket. Gestures, facial expressions, and mouthing words wouldn't work for what he wanted to say next. _No, I love purple. But I thought most tuxes were black?_  
  
 _"Oh!"_ Patton giggled. _"They are, but Roman and I wanted to spice things up! Why stick with black and white when we can make things colorful?"_  
  
Virgil snickered. He couldn't say he was particularly surprised that Patton and Roman decided to divert from the so-called norm.  
  
(And Patton wasn't wrong; purple was indeed Virgil's favorite color, as evidenced by the purple patches on his hoodie.)  
  
Virgil and Patton each slipped into a dressing room, trying on their tuxes. Virgil was the first to slip out of his room, with Patton following soon after.  
  
 _"Patton? Oh, you look amazing!"_ Virgil heard Roman say.  
  
He turned to look in the direction Roman's voice came from, and was nearly _floored_ by what he saw.  
  
Roman was wearing a red tuxedo with a red tie, Logan a dark blue tuxedo with a matching tie, and Dee a yellow tuxedo with a yellow tie.  
  
 _"...Patton, Roman, is the fact that we look like 5/7ths of a rainbow intentional on your part? I suspect it is,"_ Logan wondered.  
  
 _"Surprise! I told you that there was a theme to our outfits!"_ Roman grinned. Virgil could not help but notice that the grin did not quite reach his eyes.  
  
 _"...because 5/7ths of a rainbow is a theme?"_ Dee raised an eyebrow.  
  
 _"Yes, I believe we are missing two integral parts of the rainbow. We do not have green or orange,"_ Logan observed.  
  
 _"We also don't have everyone here!"_ Patton declared.  
  
 _"As Astrit and Era are still in Albania with their family, we haven't contacted them to see what their wedding outfits will be. Chelsea has already expressed a desire to wear the green tux in our ensemble. Shane has stated that if no one else wishes to wear the orange tux, he would be happy to do so,"_ Roman explained.  
  
 _What about Elliott and Paige?_ Virgil wrote.  
  
 _"Elliott is designing their own outfit, and Paige has already picked hers out,"_ Patton informed them.  
  
 _"What about the rest of your family and other guests? Are they following a theme too?"_ Finley spoke up, they and their coworker clearly as curious about this as Virgil, Logan, and Dee were.  
  
 _"I think most of the adults are just going to dress in black and white, but August and Seth shared an awesome idea with me! He, Seth, and Toby are going to wear different colored tuxes too, but theirs will be in the color of the trans flag! They all came up with it together! Seth is going to wear blue since it makes him the least dysphoric, August decided he'd wear pink, and Toby's going to wear white!"_  
  
 _"What about your sisters?"_ Logan asked Patton.  
  
Virgil heard Roman let out a sigh. Virgil turned to Roman, who gazed forlornly at his friends as they continued to talk.  
  
There was _definitely_ something wrong.  
  
But what?


	12. Chapter 12

Virgil knew he couldn't ask what was going on with Roman while the others were around. He wasn't sure if Roman would even tell _him_ what was going on, let alone all of them if he was put on the spot. Yes, Patton was his fiance, but Virgil suspected that Patton had something to do with Roman's reaction.  
  
Virgil found his opportunity when Roman left to search for a bathroom. Virgil followed him, waiting outside the door for Roman to step out.  
  
It was at that moment that he pounced... _figuratively_.  
  
 _Something's bugging you,_ Virgil already had written on a sheet of paper, holding it up for Roman to read.  
  
Roman took one look at it and let out a huff. _"Nothing's bugging me."_  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes and flipped to his next prewritten message. _I was under the impression that I was talking to one of my best friends, not my brother._  
  
 _"Are you calling me a liar?"_ Roman arched an eyebrow.  
  
Virgil shrugged. Technically the answer was yes, but Virgil never said as much. It was _Roman_ who said it first.  
  
 _"It's nothing big. Certainly nothing I want to let bother me or the wedding,"_ Roman folded his arms across his chest.  
  
Virgil glanced expectantly at Roman for several seconds before making a motion to tell Roman to hurry up and _tell him_ already.  
  
 _"Oh...you want me to actually say it?"_ Roman said with a forced chuckled.  
  
Virgil folded his arms across his chest, pen and pad still in his hand. He shot Roman a _look_ as if to say 'really?'.  
  
Roman sighed. _"Its just...its something that's been on my mind a lot lately, with the wedding, and I don't want to bring it up to Patton cause I don't want to hurt him or make him feel guilty..."_  
  
Roman was stalling. Virgil knew that tactic all too well. As tempting as it was to urge Roman on, Virgil knew that doing such a thing could _easily_ backfire in his face. It was best to let Roman decide when he was ready to say it.

 _"I'm jealous of Patton,"_ Roman blurted out.  
  
Virgil's eyes blew wide in surprise. Of all the responses he expected from Roman? That was _not_ one of them.  
  
Not that Patton was not worth being jealous of, Virgil would _never, ever_ say something like that about one of his best friends, but...the same could be said for Roman. Why was he jealous of Patton?  
  
Roman sighed, eyes downcast. _"It's just...I'm just as excited about the wedding as he is, don't get me wrong."_ This had to do with the wedding?   
  
Roman glanced back up at Virgil's face, catching Virgil slightly off guard. Roman looked incredibly convicted and Virgil started to reach forward with his hand before he stopped himself. He wanted to comfort Roman, but he really wasn't sure what sort of comfort Roman was looking for, if any, and if his attempts might make things worse rather than better, and...  
  
 _Whoa, Virge. Get a handle on yourself,_ he thought to himself. Overthinking everything that he could do _wrong_ when it came to comforting Roman wasn't going to help him comfort Roman.  
  
 _"Its his family,"_ Roman admitted, and Virgil found himself caught completely off guard for a second time.  
  
Patton's _family_?   
  
_"Its stupid, really. I'm happy for Patton. He's got a wonderful, loving, supportive family, and he deserves nothing less,"_ Roman let a shaky sigh, running his hand through his hair, and that was when it hit Virgil.  
  
Roman was jealous of Patton because his own family was _none of those things_.  
  
 _It's just..."_ Roman shook his head. _"I know I shouldn't care. Patton's family has accepted me as one of their own. You guys are like a family to me. I have two great families. I shouldn't be ungrateful."_  
  
 _You're not,_ Virgil wrote. The very fact that Roman declared Patton's family as well as their group of friends 'two great families' _showed_ that he wasn't ungrateful.  
  
Roman shrugged. He didn't exactly look convinced. _"No, I'm not. But it's stupid. I have everything I could possibly want, I shouldn't be upset just because...just because..."_  
  
Just because he wanted what so many other people took for granted.  
  
And why was he confessing this to Virgil? Partially because Virgil brought it up in the first place, admittedly, but Virgil suspected there was more to it than that.  
  
Virgil...could relate? Not quite. He had a loving mother and he and his brother were slowly but surely amending their relationship. His father was dead, but...honestly, _good riddance_ , the world was a better place without Linus Thompson in it. He also had a decent extended family in Remy and his Aunt Helena and Uncle Rembrandt.  
  
But Virgil still knew what Roman was going through better than anyone else in their friend group.  
  
Virgil wanted to assure Roman that it would get better, the way it had for him, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't _lie_ to Roman. He _hoped_ things would get better for Roman - that much _was_ true - but he could not guarantee it. And it wasn't like things were all sunshine and rainbows for Virgil even now. They were undoubtedly better than they were when Linus Thompson ruled the roost, but Virgil, Renilda, and Dee still bore scars from their experience.  
  
 _"I think I need some time to myself. No offense, Virgil. It really isn't you, I just...need to clear my head. It's kind of a mess up there. I'm sure you understand,"_ Roman explained. His eyes widened as it quickly sunk in what he'd just said and how it could be construed. _"Wait, I mean...I wasn't trying to say you were a mess I just..."_  
  
Virgil snickered. _I totally understand,_ he wrote, then showed the note to Roman with a wry grin. _Go do some spring cleaning, Roman. I'll tell the others you needed some fresh air._  
  
 _"...thanks,"_ Roman smiled.  
  
With that, Roman set off to get the fresh air that he needed. His intent was to do a few laps around the building, then come back to join his friends after working off some of that tension.  
  
He wouldn't get that far.


	13. Chapter 13

When Virgil returned from the bathroom alone, Patton, Logan, and Dee had questions. After all, Virgil left _after_ Roman did and was returning _before_ Roman?  
  
_"Is Roman alright?"_ Patton asked immediately.  
  
_He needed some fresh air,_ Virgil jotted out a quick explanation. It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the whole story.  
  
Patton nodded, but Dee let out a snort. _"Good job Virgil, that doesn't make it sound like you're avoiding the question at all."_  
  
Virgil cast a glare in his brother's direction. That was _exactly_ what he was doing, of course, but he didn't appreciate being called out for it.  
  
_"Nonsense, why would Virgil avoid the question?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
_"Because Roman's not alright,"_ Patton frowned. _"He's not alright, is he? I thought he was being awful quiet earlier..."_  
  
Virgil sighed. He didn't want to leave Patton hanging, but he also didn't want to tell the others how Roman felt without running it by Roman first. It was clear from Roman's words that he didn't want Patton to know, because Patton would likely feel guilty for something that _wasn't his fault in the least_.  
  
Clenching his teeth together, Virgil tried to think of how he would get out of this one.  
  
\-----------------  
  
Virgil really _wasn't_ lying when he told the others that Roman needed some fresh air. Roman felt better already just from being out in the open air. He could breathe easier, and he could feel some of the tense he was carrying in his shoulders melt away.  
  
Only for it all to come rushing back again as he went around the back of the building during his stroll and came across a familiar face.  
  
_"What are you doing here?"_ Roman snapped.  
  
Delilah, to her credit, actually looked taken aback. Roman scoffed. _"What, did you think we'd be back to being best friends forever after what you did?"_  
  
_"After what I did? What exactly did I do?"_ Delilah actually had the _nerve_ to look confused.  
  
_"You kidnapped me!"_ Roman glared.  
  
_"...fair point, I'll give you that one..."_ Delilah conceded.  
  
_"And then the Fiendfyre Attack! Don't even get me started on that,"_ Roman continued.

 _"The Fiendfyre Attack?"_ Delilah scoffed. _"I didn't have anything to do with that."_  
  
_"Yes you did,"_ Roman asserted.  
  
Delilah let out a snort. _"I didn't cast a single spell in Hogsmeade that day and you know it. We were both in the same store when it happened."_  
  
_"Exactly,"_ Roman replied.  
  
Delilah blinked, clearly not expecting Roman to be so confident in his response. She probably thought she had him backed into a corner with that point. _"What do you mean 'exactly'?"_  
  
_"You didn't do anything. That's why you are complicit,"_ Roman explained.  
  
Delilah scoffed. _"Really? Since when does it work that way?"_  
  
_"You knew what was going to happen and you did nothing!"_ Roman protested.  
  
_"That's not true and you know it. I tried to warn you ahead of time!"_ Delilah retorted.  
  
Roman let out an almost hysterical laugh. _"You are_ vile,"[/i] he hissed. _"You tried to warn me, but what about the others who were in Hogsmeade? People died, Delilah. My fiance's brother lost a leg in those attacks. A friend of mine has cursed scars that he will bear for the rest of his life. Over a dozen people had their lives stripped away, including at least one thirteen year old. Thirteen, Delilah. You could have prevented that. You didn't. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some fresh air. I smell something foul."_  
  
Roman was about to turn and leave when Delilah said something that left him speechless. _"I suppose you're not wrong to call me vile, after everything I've done,"_ she admitted.  
  
Roman rolled his eyes. _"If you believe for a second that I'm going to buy that you're actually remorseful..."_ She already played that game, and though he'd bitten in the past, he had no plans to now.

Delilah tittered. _"If you are willing to drop all pretenses, so am I. I didn't come here to beg you for forgiveness. I would not lower myself to such a level."_  
  
Fury rose up within Roman like an towering inferno. _"Lower yourself? You couldn't lower yourself any harder if you tried. Your utter lack of humanity is appalling."_  
  
Delilah recoiled, looking stricken. Roman clearly hit a nerve, and a triumphant smirk worked it's way onto Roman's features.

Delilah quickly regained her composure, unfortunately, and...nodded?  
  
Roman barely had time to question what Delilah was doing before he felt someone clap a hand over his mouth.  
  
_"Boo,"_ he heard someone whisper into his ear. He tried to jerk away, but then he felt something heavy crash into his head. Everything went dark as Roman crumpled to the ground.  
  
_"...you couldn't have just used a Stunning Spell? What if he'd broken out of your grasp?"_ Delilah hissed.  
  
Remus, who stood over Roman clutching a morning star in his right hand let out a snicker.  
  
_"And that thing you're holding. What even is this?"_  
  
Remus twirled the weapon in his hands. _"This? Why this is a morning star, of course!"_ he told her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
_"...is that a Muggle item? Why would you use a Muggle item when you can use magic?"_ Delilah stared.   
  
_"Because Muggles might be inferior in many ways, but their weapon game is on point,"_ Remus declared with a grin.  
  
Delilah rolled her eyes. _"Whatever. Just...just grab Roman and let's get out of here before his friends start to get suspicious."_  
  
_"You're not the boss of me!"_ Remus snapped.  
  
_"...excuse me?"_  
  
_"You're not the boss of me! I can do whatever I want! What if I want to take Roman to Antarctica with me, hmmm? What are you going to do to stop me?"_ he chuckled, pointing his wand at Roman. _"Levicorpus!"_ Roman soared into the air, as if he were a marionette being pulled by invisible strings. Remus pulled Roman closer to him, lacing their hands together. _"Oooh, I could get a horn from a narwhal and add it to my collection of weapons!"_  
  
Delilah paled, stepping forward and reaching for her wand.  
  
Remus burst into laughter. _"GOTCHA!"_  
  
Delilah let out a sigh halfway between relief and exasperation. _"You asshole."_  
  
_"Takes one to know one!"_ Remus taunted. He seized Roman's hand once more, then disapparated with sharp pop.  
  
Delilah scowled. _"He didn't even look to see if the coast was clear, idiot..."_   
  
Delilah peered around once more. Satisfied that it was safe to do so, Delilah disapparated.


	14. Chapter 14

Virgil frowned, glancing at the door to the store. What was taking Roman so long? He thought Roman would only be gone for a few minutes at most...  
  
\-----------------  
  
 _"Rennervate!"_ Remus blurted out, pointing his wand at Roman as soon as he, Roman, and Delilah appeared in his parents' old cabin.  
  
His _adopted_ parents, technically, but who was keeping track?  
  
 _"That won't work,"_ Delilah informed him with a roll of her eyes. _"It would have worked if you stunned him like I told you to do in the first place, but..."_  
  
Delilah was interrupted by the sound of Roman groaning. Her mouth fell open.  
  
 _"You were saying?"_ Remus grinned. _"Trust me darling, I know what I'm doing when it comes to these things."_ He lazily pointed his wand toward Roman once more. _"Incarcerous!"_ Remus called out, ropes immediately binding Roman in place, ensuring that he would not be able to escape once he regained full consciousness.

Something that Delilah and Remus did not have to wait long for.  
  
As Roman gained more awareness, he came face to face with the realization that he was bound and trapped. This didn't stop him from trying to twist and turn in an attempt to find a way _out_ of the bindings.  
  
 _"How nice of you to join us! Y'know, it's really not nice to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation. Do we need to teach you some manners?"_ Roman's gaze turned toward the source of this voice, a young man with a mustache and a silver streak in his hair. He looked to be around Roman's age, and he looked strangely _familiar_ to Roman, though Roman couldn't place how or why.  
  
He could not recall ever seeing this man in his life.  
  
 _"You hit me over the head!"_ Roman glared. Were his hands not bound, he would have rubbed the top of his head, as it was still sore from the earlier attack.  
  
 _"Hmmm, still say you need to be taught some manners. Do you prefer the Cruciatus Curse or do you like your torture like you like your men?"_ Remus grinned.

 _"Excuse me?"_ Roman stared.  
  
 _"Y'know, made by Muggles!"_ Remus elaborated.  
  
Roman...didn't know how to respond to that. He had _no_ idea who this man was, yet here he was asking how Roman best liked to be tortured (the answer was _not at all, thank you very much_ ), but strangely the fact that this man was threatening to torture him was not the part that unsettled him the most. That was almost to be expected from someone who hit him over the head and kidnapped him.  
  
No, what unsettled him was the fact that the man clearly knew about _Patton_. That meant that this man that Roman knew absolutely nothing about already knew important details about Roman's life. Of course, the easiest explanation for this was that _Delilah_ told him, as he was clearly working with Delilah, but the whole thing still felt strange.  
  
He couldn't seem to shake the feeling of familiarity, which made no sense! He never met this man in his life! He would _know_ if he had.  
  
...wouldn't he?  
  
 _"Let's not torture him just yet, Remus,"_ Delilah spoke up. Roman immediately cast her a glare.  
  
 _"Awww, but I wanna do it now!"_ Remus pouted - yes, actually _pouted_ \- then turned to Delilah. _"Didn't you see that glare? Are you gonna let him look at you like that?"_  
  
 _"I can deal with a glare,"_ Delilah shrugged. _"I've put up with far worse. Besides, don't you think we ought to give Roman some important information before we leave him indisposed again?"_  
  
 _"Huh, I suppose you're right,"_ Remus peered down at Roman. _"Just you wait, though - We're gonna have lots of fun together! It'll be a real bonding moment-"_  
  
 _"Remus,"_ Delilah folded her arms across her chest, sounding a bit like a scolding parent. _"You and I both know full well that you won't be spending much time around Roman, at least for the tjme being."_  
  
 _"Awww, you're such a spoilsport Delilah,"_ Remus rolled his eyes.   
  
_"One of us has to keep us on task,"_ Delilah retorted.  
  
Roman could not help but notice that whatever relationship Remus and Delilah had, it was fraught with tension. Delilah clearly wanted to be the boss, and Remus...didn't seem like he wanted to be bossed around.  
  
 _"Are you going to let her talk to you like that?"_ Roman whispered to Remus, echoing Remus' own words to Delilah earlier.  
  
 _"Delilah, Roman's trying to turn me against you!"_ Remus immediately blurted out in a sing song voice.  
  
Well so much for _that_.   
  
Remus turned back to Roman with a smile. _"You wanna know why I'm working with her? The promise of even greater chaos. Why settle for torture when I can tear your life to shreds, leaving it utterly unrecognizable?"_  
  
Roman blanched. _"I...excuse me?"_ the former Gryffindor was at a loss for words once more.  
  
 _"You're right, I don't usually shoot for the long game. Immediate satisfaction is kinda my gig, y'know? But honestly...this is something I've dreamed about doing for years,"_ Remus beamed. _"So I can make an exception."_  
  
 _"You've dreamed about destroying my life for years? I don't even know who you are!"_ Roman insisted.   
  
_"Exactly, and that was by design. That we don't know each other, I mean, not that I've dreamt of destroying your life for years. Though I'm sure mum and dad wouldn't mind, given what a disappoint to them you've turned out to be,"_ Remus folded his arms across his chest. _"Patton is cute, don't get me wrong, but a Mudblood? Tsk tsk. What would mummy and daddy think?"_  
  
 _"I don't give a damn what they think,"_ Roman snarled. _"They're dead to me."_  
  
 _"Well, glad to see we agree about one thing at least,"_ Remus shrugged. _"The Dukes were much better parents, y'know? Lot more free reign here. Best thing mum and dad could have done for me was send me to live with them!"_  
  
 _"What on Earth are you talking about?"_ Roman stared at Remus, trying to figure out what he was prattling on about while all the while unsure whether he would like the answer.  
  
 _"Y'know, given how differently we've grown up, its really astonishing that our views regarding our parents are so similar,"_ Remus noted.  
  
 _"...our...parents?"_ Roman eyes widened.  
  
 _"Yup! We're brothers, didn't you know that?"_ Remus announced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean this really isn't a reveal to anyone other than Roman if they've seen Sanders Sides, but... XD Still, what a 'dun dun DUUUUUN' moment for Roman


	15. Chapter 15

How...how did one even respond to an announcement like that?  
  
Roman began to chuckle, his chuckle soon expanding into full on laughter that sounded almost hysterical.   
  
_"Oops, I think I might have broken his brain with that last one,"_ Remus said with a snicker.  
  
_"There's no way you could be my brother,"_ Roman asserted once he regained his composure.   
  
_"There isn't? Why didn't you tell me you were taking a trip to Egypt?"_ Remus asked.  
  
_"...because I'm not?"_ Roman blinked in confusion.  
  
_"Really? Because you sure seem to be in denial right now! Get it, in de-Nile? Like the river?"_ Remus eyed Roman eagerly. When Roman apparently did not give him the reaction that he was hoping for, Remus let out a sigh. _"You just don't appreciate quality entertainment."_  
  
Roman half-wondered if this was part of his torture, to make him question his sanity. If so, it was working better than Roman would ever admit out loud.  
  
_"Why can't I be your brother, pray tell? Do you actually have a good reason or do you just not want it to be true?"_ Remus wondered.  
  
Both, honestly. _"I would know who you were if you were my brother."_  
  
_"Not if our mummy and daddy sent us to live with another family~!"_ Remus sung.  
  
_"Why would they do that?"_ Roman arched an eyebrow. Really, his parents sucked, but he couldn't fathom a reason _why_ they would give up one of their children to be raised by another family.

 _"Because I am the chosen one!"_ Remus announced triumphantly.  
  
_"...what?"_  
  
_"Or I was too much for them to handle. Take your pick. I personally think it was the latter but oh well, their loss,"_ Remus shrugged. _"Joke's on them, they still wound up with the worse of the two."_  
  
_"Two?"_ Roman questioned. _"If you are my brother..."_  
  
_"Have you finally come around to the idea? Oh, I knew you would!"_ Remus beamed.  
  
Roman took a deep breath before he continued. _"If you are my brother, you would know that there are more than just the two of us."_  
  
_"Yup, I know all about Phillip and James. And yes, that does include James' final fate. But they're older. They didn't come in a set, not like you and I did!"_   
  
_"A set? What do you mean a set? Babies don't come in..."_ The color drained from Roman's face as he trailed off. Babies most certainly _could_ come in a set, if they were... _"We are not twins,"_ Roman declared sharply.  
  
_"Oh honey, you can deny it all you want but that doesn't make it any less true,"_ Remus taunted.   
  
_"There's no way I'm related to you, much less your...twin,"_ Roman made a face as he looked closely at Remus.

 _"Hmmm, this may be more difficult than I thought,"_ Remus said while stroking his chin exaggeratedly with his hand. He suddenly gasped, snapping his fingers together on the same hand. _"I know!_  
  
He knew what? Roman wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.  
  
_"Evanesco!"_ Remus called out, pointing his wand at his mustache. He then pointed his wand at the silver streak in his hair. _"Colovaria!"_ The stripe switched from silver to the same shade of brown as the rest of his hair.  
  
Remus turned expectantly to Roman. _"See?"_ he gestured to his face and hair.

Roman desperately wanted to insist that _no_ , he _didn't_ see, but he would be lying to both himself and Remus. So long as Remus continued to have the mustache and the silver streak in his hair, Remus was _different_ enough that Roman could reason with himself that there was no way that he and this fiend could ever be related, much less _twins_. It wasn't much, but it was a safety net, something that Roman could keep telling himself so that he did not have to confront the fact Remus somehow looked familiar from the moment he saw him. And now he knew exactly why.  
  
He could have been looking back at _himself_ for all he knew. Their faces were identical in every way, and now that Remus did not have the mustache to distract from that, the truth felt like a slap in the face.  
  
_"It's like looking into a mirror, isn't it?"_ Remus beamed.  
  
_"A fun-house mirror, maybe,"_ Roman retorted. Because yes, their features were identical, but there were notable differences in the way Remus held himself and his facial expressions. Roman indeed felt as if he were looking at his reflection, but it still felt as if that reflection was _warped_ somehow - just like a fun-house mirror.  
  
_"It's so wonderful to finally meet you, brother! I have dreamt of this moment for years and years!"_ Remus smiled.  
  
_"I can't say that I share in that sentiment,"_ Roman muttered. He honestly wished that he never learned of Remus' existence _ever_ , and...well, he couldn't exactly dream of meeting his twin for years and years when he didn't even know he _had_ one until now.  
  
What the hell was _wrong_ with Victoria and Edward?  
  
_...actually, scratch that question,_ Roman thought to himself. Roman already had quite the list going on in his head of what was wrong with his biological parents, why not add one more item to it?  
  
_"What is your goal here?"_ Roman asked once he finally regained his words.  
  
_"My goal? Why, I simply wanted to reunite with my dear twin-"_ Remus began, but Roman cut him off.  
  
_"Not you. Her,"_ Roman gestured to Delilah.  
  
Remus scowled, clearly not pleased with the fact that the attention was diverted from him to some else, much less _Delilah_. Delilah shrugged, gesturing back to Remus. _"Don't ask me. This is his circus now,"_ she grinned.  
  
Roman scowled at Delilah before turning his attention back to Remus. _"What is_ your _goal?"_  
  
_"My goal? Oh dear, I usually don't operate with any specific goal in mind. As you might have noticed, I kind of like to fly by the seat of my pants!"_ Remus grinned.  
  
So why was Roman _here_?  
  
_"In this case, however, I'm willing to make an exception. Partially because Delilah twisted my arm, and partially because the payoff should be well worth the wait,"_ Remus' eyes looked almost _hungry_ at this point.  
  
_"The payoff? What payoff?"_ Roman stared.  
  
_"We've missed out on so many years of experience! I really think we ought to see how the other half lives!"_ Remus announced.  
  
_"What do you mean?"_ Roman inquired, eyeing Remus warily.  
  
_"We've missed out on so many twinsie games over the years! Do you realize we haven't switched places with one another once?"_ Remus shook his head. _"It's a travesty! We really ought to make up for lost time!"_  
  
Roman shook his head. _"I'm not exactly interested..."_  
  
Remus snickered before casting Roman a smirk that sent chills up his spine. _"Oh, it's so cute that you_ actually _think you get a choice in the matter..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you have guessed that this was going to happen, and you were correct, but...yeah. We'll see how this goes XD


	16. Chapter 16

There it was, the truth that he dreaded hearing.  
  
 _"Oh, it's so cute that you_ actually _think you get a choice in the matter."_  
  
He didn't get a choice. He was bound, unable to fight back with anything other than his words. And as pointed as his words were, his words were no match for what Remus and Delilah could do now that they had him at their mercy.  
  
Roman felt torn between crying and throwing up.  
  
 _"That's why you have me ensnared, isn't it?"_ Roman realized.  
  
 _"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!"_ Remus shouted. Roman hated the way that he flinched at the noise. He was supposed to be brave and strong, but this...  
  
This was a lot to deal with.   
  
_"...and what does switching places entail, exactly?"_ he wondered. He knew he wouldn't like the answer, but he wanted - no, _needed_ \- to know.  
  
 _"I live your life, you live mine!"_ Remus clarified.  
  
...that was what Roman was afraid of.  
  
 _"Well, you won't quite be living Remus' life,"_ Delilah noted. _"As Remus noted earlier, the his adopted parents have given him free reign. The Dukes have recently relocated to a new home closer to London so that they may more easily attend to Council business, and as such have relinquished control over their prior home to their adopted son, Remus. To suggest that you'd get the freedom that he has so enjoyed is laughable, to say the least. You and I both know that given the opportunity, you would fight tooth and nail to get your life back."_  
  
 _"As would anyone,"_ Roman growled. _"This is my life we're talking about!"_  
  
 _"Tsk tsk Roman, didn't anyone ever teach you how to share?"_ teased Remus.  
  
 _"You can't do this, you know,"_ Roman insisted.  
  
 _"I can't?"_ Remus tilted. _"And why is that? I've already established that once I rid myself of a few aesthetic traits, we look identical."_  
  
 _"But we don't_ act _identical_. _Even the intonation of your voice is different,"_ Roman pointed out.   
  
_"Hmmm, you make a fair point brother dearest,"_ Remus conceded. _"But all of that can be easily remedied."_  
  
Roman stared at Remus in horror. The transition was _seamless_. The first sentence? Characteristically Remus. The second? His voice sounded _identical to Roman's_.   
  
_"What?"_ Remus asked. _"You didn't think you were the only one in the family who could act, did you?"_ he smirked.  
  
Remus was going to pretend to be him. _Remus was going to pretend to be him._  
  
...but could he actually succeed?  
  
 _"You do realize my friends are waiting for me, right? My fiance? They will easily see through your tricks!"_ Roman declared.  
  
 _"I dunno, I like to think I'm a pretty good actor,"_ Remus shrugged.  
  
 _"How good of an actor means little when you lack the proper details needed to bring your character to life,"_ Roman announced triumphantly. _"You may pretend to be me all you want, but you know little of my life and what it entails. Your charade will fall apart quickly."_  
  
Roman hoped that Remus's face would fall. Instead, the corners of Remus' mouth curved upward into his widest grin yet before he began to laugh. _"Oh, you'd like to think that wouldn't you?"_  
  
Roman was at a loss for words. Why wasn't Remus bothered?   
  
_"Oh Roman Roman Roman. You've been feeding me everything that I've needed this whole time. You're like an open book, darling, and quite an interesting read to boot. I can only hope that your friends will be just as interesting. I do look forward to reading the companion series,"_ Remus licked his lips.  
  
 _"I...I don't understand,"_ Roman hated the way that his voice cracked, the way that _every time_ he felt as if he might triumph over Remus, Remus destroyed that notion in one fell swoop.  
  
But what he hated the most was that he didn't understand...  
  
 _No. It couldn't be,_ Roman thought, eyes searching his brother's face in alarm.  
  
Remus grinned. _"Couldn't it though?"_  
  
Roman immediately thought back to the extra-curricular lessons offered in his seventh year. He sought to close his mind, making it as airtight as he possibly could. Of all things, Roman would not have fathomed that his twin brother was a _Legilimens_.  
  
Remus let out a snort. _"Word to the wise, Roman. If you know Occlumency, you might want to employ some of its defenses at all times rather than waiting until the threat has revealed itself. By then it's far too late to do any good. I know your friends are waiting for you back at the store. They must be wondering what is taking you so long at this point."_  
  
They were, and that might be Roman's _one_ saving grace.  
  
 _"I do look forward to a challenge, though. Delilah, I leave guardianship of my brother to you. I trust that you will show him every bit of hospitality that he deserves,"_ Remus spoke to Delilah, but his gaze was still on Roman, a mischievous _glint_ in his eyes.  
  
 _"You have my word, Remus,"_ Delilah replied.  
  
 _"Now if you'll excuse me, I believe Virgil, Logan, Dee, and Patton are awaiting my return..."_ A shudder went through Roman as Remus spoke of four of his closest friends, but he hardly had time to do much else before Remus disapparated from the house that would be Roman's prison for the foreseeable future.  
  
\----------------------------  
  
 _"I'm certain that he'll be back any minute now."_  
  
 _"Coming from you, Dee, that's not exactly an airtight assurance."_  
  
Virgil sighed as he listened to Dee and Logan comment on Roman's absence, all the while watching Patton who gazed out the window with a forlorn expression on his face.  
  
 _"I'm going to go look for him,"_ Patton announced suddenly, rising to his feet and marching toward the door.  
  
 _But Pat, he said he needed fresh air,_ Virgil hastily scribbled in reply.  
  
 _"He's been gone for an hour now! It doesn't take an hour to get fresh air! What if something happened to him?"_ Patton fretted.  
  
Virgil had to admit that Patton had a point, and he'd been wondering the _same thing_ \- he just didn't want _Patton_ to worry.  
  
(That was _Virgil's_ job.)  
  
Just as Patton reached for the door, however, it opened from the outside to reveal none other than Roman.  
  
 _"I apologize for my prolonged absence,"_ Roman announced. _"I may have gotten a little sidetracked."_


	17. Chapter 17

Virgil narrowed his eyes. Roman disappeared for an _hour_ , leaving them all worried, and he thought he could just walk back in and all would be forgiven and forgotten?  
  
 _"Roman!"_ Patton ran up to his fiance at once, throwing his arms around him.  
  
...apparently it _would_.  
  
Roman chuckled and wrapped his arms around Patton in return.  
  
Logan cleared his throat. _"As loving as this scene may be, the fact remains that you disappeared for a length of time and had many of us concerned for your well-being."_  
  
 _"Ah, yeah. I'm sorry about that guys,"_ Roman rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. _"I really planned to be back here sooner, but it took a lot longer than I thought."_  
  
 _"What took a lot longer than you thought?"_ Dee chimed in.  
  
 _"This,"_ Roman admitted, retrieving a box from his pocket and holding it out for Patton.  
  
Patton gasped, then let out a light giggle. _"Roman, you already proposed to me!"_  
  
 _"That I did. Go ahead and open the box,"_ Roman urged him.  
  
Patton looked to Roman in confusion, but also barely contained excitement. He opened the box, only to nearly drop it as he let out a squeal. _"Oh Roman, it's beautiful!"_ Patton announced, awe in his tone. Virgil watched as Patton retrieved what appeared to be a charm bracelet from the box, slipping it onto his wrist. Virgil leaned in to take a closer look at the bracelet.  
  
Patton noticed what Virgil was doing and raised his wrist so that Virgil and the others could see it better. _"It has my name and my birthstone, see? Oh Roman, it's absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much!"_ Patton pulled Roman in for a hug once more.   
  
...leave it to Roman to leave them waiting so that he could go all out on a lavish gift to Patton. Virgil rolled his eyes, yet still regarded the scene with a fond expression.  
  
He supposed this was Roman's way of coming to terms with his earlier feelings of guilt over his jealous of Patton's family situation. He just hoped that Roman was genuinely doing better than he was before and not just trying to distract himself from it.

 _"Are we ready to make our purchases?"_ Logan wondered.   
  
_"I believe that we are,"_ Roman responded.  
  
 _"I dunno..."_ Patton said with a frown. Roman glanced at him in confusion, though he wasn't the only one.  
  
 _"I didn't get you anything!"_ Patton elaborated. _"You got me something so nice, and I didn't get you anything in return!"_  
  
 _"Patton, I do not need anything in return,"_ Roman assured him.  
  
 _"But..."_ Patton began, but Roman placed his finger on Patton's lip to shush him.   
  
_"Having you is gift enough,"_ Roman continued.  
  
 _"Ugh, let's hurry up before they give us all diabetes,"_ Dee said with a roll of his eyes, heading toward the counter with his yellow tuxedo and tie in his hand.  
  
Roman and Patton both snickered before following suit.  
  
Once the tuxedos were paid for, the group had to decide what they were going to do next. They'd already had lunch and done their shopping; was there anything else they wanted to do while they were in Muggle London?  
  
 _"We could go on the London Eye!"_ Patton suggested suddenly.  
  
 _"I'm not certain that going to the London Eye is a wise course of action,"_ Logan replied.  
  
 _"Muggle London has a disembodied eye that you can visit?"_ Roman's eyes were wide. If Virgil didn't know any better, he would say that Roman almost looked _excited_ about the bizarre idea he just proposed.  
  
...that said, Virgil thought the London Eye was some sort of special eye as well. Why else would they call it that?   
  
Judging from the way that Patton giggled, he and Roman weren't on the right track with their guesses at all. That stood to reason; he couldn't fathom _Patton_ suggesting they go visit some disembodied eye. _"The London Eye isn't an actual eye, silly!"_  
  
 _"Yes indeed, how silly of us to believe that something that goes by the name of 'The London Eye' isn't actually an eye,"_ Dee replied with a sardonic smile.  
  
 _"The London Eye is a ferris wheel,"_ Logan elaborated upon Patton's original explanation.  
  
 _"Oh good, that clarifies everything!"_ Dee clapped his hands together. The sarcasm was positively dripping from his tone at this point.   
  
_Ferris wheel?_ Virgil wrote.  
  
Ferris wheels weren't exactly Common wizarding knowledge either.  
  
 _"It's a big wheel that you ride!"_ Patton informed them.  
  
 _"Why on Earth would you call that an eye then?"_ Roman arched an eyebrow. _"Because it's round?"_  
  
 _"I would presume that the ferris wheel colloquially referred to as the London Eye earned its name from the view that it offers its riders of London,"_ Logan noted.

...wait. The view that it offered its riders of London? Did that mean...  
  
 _Heights?_ Virgil wrote.  
  
Logan nodded. _"And that is precisely why I suggested that we avoid the London Eye."_  
  
 _"May I propose something else?"_ Dee piped up. _"We do not avoid the London Eye in its entirety, but those who do not wish to ride the London Eye can stay on the ground?"_  
  
 _"I dunno, would that be fair? Virge would be missing out on all the fun!"_ Patton frowned.  
  
 _It's cool,_ Virgil wrote in reply, and he truly meant it. He didn't want to keep his friends from going if they wanted to check it out.   
  
_"You could take pictures?"_ Logan suggested.  
  
 _"That's a great idea, Logan!"_ Patton beamed.  
  
 _"Where would we get a camera though? We didn't exactly bring one with us?"_ Roman pointed out.  
  
...good point. It didn't matter to Virgil whether he had something specific to do while his friends were on the ferris wheel or not, but he couldn't very well take pictures if he didn't have a camera.  
  
 _"I have my mobile phone with me,"_ Logan piped up. _"Virgil can use that."_  
  
 _"But Virgil doesn't know how to use a mobile phone, do you Virge?"_ Patton turned to Virgil, who shook his head.  
  
 _"That will not pose a problem. I intend to stay on the ground with Virgil,"_ Logan declared.


	18. Chapter 18

_"You sure you don't wanna go, Virge?"_ Patton asked Virgil for what felt like the hundredth time since they arrived.  
  
Virgil nodded and even took a step back as if to accentuate the point.  
  
 _"Hmmm, I'm not sure if that was clear enough. Maybe you need to ask him again?"_ Dee teased.  
  
 _"What about you, Specs? Are you sure you don't wanna go?"_ Roman asked, looking to Logan.  
  
 _"I would rather remain here with Virgil,"_ Logan admitted.  
  
Roman, Patton, and Dee got in line, while Virgil and Logan stood back. Logan peered up at the large wheel (Virgil was _glad_ he passed on this adventure, his breath caught just _looking_ at it).  
  
 _You could have gone with them, you know,_ Virgil wrote.  
  
 _"Do I need to repeat myself? As I said before, I would prefer to remain here with you,"_ Logan assured him.  
  
Virgil frowned. It wasn't that he didn't want to go on the ride. Perhaps that was why Virgil had such a hard time accepting that Logan truly wanted to stay down here and wasn't just sticking with Virgil out of a sense of obligation. Virgil _wanted_ to be able to handle a ferris wheel. Being able to view the city from the top sounded absolutely amazing.  
  
It just...wasn't worth the suffering. Virgil felt dizzy just _looking_ at the ferris wheel; he could only imagine how he'd feel if he were actually on it. And he didn't want to put a damper on everyone else's fun by having a panic attack in the middle of the whole thing.  
  
 _"Are you alright, Virgil?"_ Logan asked, causing Virgil to jolt slightly.  
  
"Huh? Yeah, m'fine," Virgil blurted out without thinking. It was a testament to his state of mind that he got this far before realizing that Logan wouldn't be able to understand a word that came out of his mouth. _I'm fine,_ he hastily jotted in clarification.  
  
 _"That sounds fake, but ok,"_ Logan replied.  
  
Virgil could not help but let out a snort. Was he hearing correctly? Did Logan just say what he _thought_ Logan said?  
  
 _"What?"_ Logan frowned. _"Am I not using the phrase correctly?"_  
  
 _Where did you even hear that phrase?_ Virgil wrote.  
  
 _"The triplets attempted to teach me some of the more common slang words and phrases that I might come across,"_ Logan explained.  
  
 _That's actually pretty old slang,_ Virgil jotted out in admission.  
  
Logan shrugged, then glanced back at the ferris wheel. _"Look, I believe Roman, Patton, and Dee are preparing to enter the ride,"_ he pointed out. Upon closer inspection, Virgil saw that Logan was right.  
  
 _"I suppose it is now the ideal moment to show you how to work a camera on a mobile phone,"_ Logan told him, then retrieved the sleek black rectangle that Virgil knew to be the device in question.  
  
 _I know how to work a camera,_ Virgil noted, but eying the black rectangle, he suspected things would be a little different than what he was used to.  
  
 _"I realize this, but you have never operated a mobile phone camera. It is not particularly difficult. Allow me to demonstrate,"_ Logan stated. He pressed a button on the side of the phone, then touched a square on his screen with a picture of a camera on it.

 _"Now we are in the camera app,"_ Logan explained. _"Now, there are several options you may utilize while operating a mobile phone camera, but I feel as though it is best to keep matters simple for the time being. Are you able to see the screen?"_  
  
"Mmhmm," Virgil replied.  
  
 _"Good. As you can see, the objects and/or people that are in front of the camera also appear on the screen of my phone. If I wish to take a picture of that exact moment in time, I would press down on this button in the center of the screen like so,"_ Logan tapped a circular white button in the center of the screen, snapping a picture of a tree in front of them. _"Of course, if you wish to change your target, you can do so by moving the phone. If I shift the phone this way,"_ Logan pointed his phone at the London Eye. _"I now have the London Eye within my sights and am able to take a picture of it at my leisure. Now you try,"_ he handed the phone over to a surprised Virgil.

Virgil took the phone from Logan. Indeed, he could see what was on the other side of the phone on the screen of the phone through the lens of the camera. He shifted the phone in his hand toward the ferris wheel, where Roman, Patton, and Dee were climbing into one of the capsules along with multiple other people. Patton visibly gasped and pointed to Virgil, then tapped Roman and Dee. All three waved at Virgil, and Virgil cautiously pressed the white circle on the screen.  
  
 _"You may wish to press the button a couple of times. That way, we will have a few pictures to choose from, and even if some pictures aren't of the highest quality, we will have a few to choose from,"_ Logan remarked.  
  
Virgil did as Logan instructed, pressing the white circle with his finger four more times.  
  
Logan next talked him through how to look at the pictures. Virgil's eyes widened as Logan pressed another button on the screen and every picture that Virgil took, in addition to several other pictures, appeared on the screen.  
  
How could certain wizards act as though they were superior to Muggles in every way when Muggles could do things like _this_? Wizards still had to develop their film!   
  
_Where do I go to get one of those?_ Virgil asked after Logan took the phone back, slipping it into his pocket.  
  
 _"Would you like to purchase one?"_ Logan asked in surprise. _"Its not really anything special, this isn't even the latest model..."_  
  
Virgil was starting to get an idea of why Muggleborns were so wide-eyed when they arrived at Hogwarts Castle for the first time. Virgil might not be a first year exposed to magic for the first time in his life, but the Muggle world seemed to carry a certain magic of its own, and he was impressed with what he'd seen thus far.


	19. Chapter 19

Virgil had to admit that he found himself enjoying this trip far more from his current vantage point than he _ever_ would have in the actual passenger carriage that Patton, Roman, and Dee were in. The top of the wheel had to be at _least_ one hundred meters up, which was bad enough, but then they shared a carriage with a number of other people. Virgil _knew_ that he would not fare well with that combination, thus this was the best course in the end.  
  
Logan continued to show different features of his phone to Virgil. When he pressed one particular button, a bunch of numbers, letters, and symbols appeared on the screen, which Logan used to type 'hello' before erasing it by pressing an arrow that pointed to the left.   
  
_"This is a keyboard. You can use it to type. I find it primarily comes in handy for something called texting, which is essentially sending written messages back and forth over the wireless network that this phone is connected to,"_ Logan explained.  
  
Virgil nodded, still fascinated that one little device could do so much. He went to retrieve his pen and paper from his pocket. He was in the process of pulling the items from his pocket when Logan let out a loud gasp. Virgil nearly dropped the pen and paper in surprise, glancing over at Logan at once. Was everything alright?  
  
Virgil didn't expect to see Logan _grinning_ , and he wasn't sure what to make of it.  
  
 _"I've just had an idea. I don't know why I did not consider it before. Granted, I have heard that electronic devices do not operate well at Hogwarts due to its large size and thus greater potential for magical interference, so perhaps it was a moot point until now..."_ Logan murmured.  
  
That left Virgil even _more_ confused.  
  
 _"You can use this, Virgil,"_ Logan declared.  
  
Virgil nodded his thanks and went to reach for the phone. Logan pulled it away and shook his head.   
  
...why was Logan telling Virgil that he could use the phone if he was going to pull it away when Virgil attempted to do so? Was he afraid that Virgil would break it if he tried to do anything more than press a white circle on the screen?   
  
_"My apologies, I was not clear in my statement. I did not mean that I wished for you to take my phone at the present moment. I meant that you could use this phone to aid in your communication,"_ Logan informed him.  
  
That certainly had Virgil intrigued. Was he referring to the letters and numbers that popped up before...the keyboard, as Logan called it?  
  
It would still be writing, but...it was an improvement. Or _could_ be an improvement, once he learned how to do it. From his observance of Logan's typing, it was possible to type _very_ quickly with one's fingers - certainly faster than he could write. It would take practice, though.  
  
 _You're going to teach me how to type?_ Virgil scribbled.  
  
Logan nodded. _"I am, but that is only a portion of what I will be teaching you. An important portion, mind...but I think you will be most enthralled by the next part."_  
  
Logan tapped another button/app on his screen. _"This starts out in a similar fashion to texting. See? The keyboard appears once more. I will type what I wish to say. Watch,"_ Logan instructed. Virgil watched as Logan typed 'Hello Virgil', taking extra care to see in which direction Logan went with his fingers for each letter.

If he was going to learn how to type, he imagined that he would need to learn where each letter was located, after all. Why not start now?   
  
Next, Logan pressed a rectangle with the word 'play' written on it located below what he just input into the phone using the keyboard.  
  
 _"Hello Virgil,"_ a tinny voice came from the phone. Virgil's eyes went _huge_. Did the phone just...  
  
 _"It's text to speech,"_ Logan explained. _"Any text you input, you press the play button and the phone will convert it to speech. There are a number of voices you may select from if you are not pleased with the current. I've never had much use for the program myself, but I thought that you might find it useful,"_ he shrugged.

'Find it useful' was putting it lightly. With shaking fingers, Virgil reached for the phone, slowly inputting what he wanted to say. His fingers did not fly over the keyboard the way that Logan's did, but at this point that did not matter. What mattered was seeing if this would actually work. When he was done typing, he pressed the 'play' button as Logan demonstrated earlier.  
  
 _"Hey Lo,"_ the same voice from before announced, and Virgil...Virgil _beamed_. It worked, it actually worked! Logan smiled, his eyes going wide in surprise when Virgil pulled him into a hug that could rival one of Patton's in its intensity.   
  
_"I presume you will find the app useful, then?"_ Logan asked. He received laughter from Virgil as a reply.

Virgil's laughter was apparently contagious, as Logan slowly began to chortle as well. This only made Virgil laugh even harder. He hadn't laughed like this in a good while, and it felt _good_. He didn't want it to end.  
  
Which, of course, meant that it would inevitably come to a grinding halt.  
  
In this case, literally.  
  
Logan stopped laughing at once. Virgil felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach. He knew that there had to be a reason for the sudden shift, but wasn't sure that he wanted to know what that reason was.   
  
It didn't matter what he _wanted_ , though, because he needed to find out regardless.  
  
"Hmmm?" Virgil hummed, hoping that Logan would understand that he was asking for clarification. Logan pulled away from Virgil at once, pointing behind Virgil.  
  
 _"The Eye. It appears to have gotten stuck,"_ Logan frowned.  
  
Virgil's eyes immediately scanned the ferris wheel for an indication of where Roman, Patton, and Dee were, starting from the bottom and working upward.   
  
_"I believe they're near the top,"_ Logan observed, confirming Virgil's worst suspicions.  
  
And _this_ was why Virgil preferred to keep his feet firmly on the ground.


	20. Chapter 20

Virgil tried not to panic, even as the worst case scenarios began to play out in his head.  
  
 _"Perhaps...perhaps the wheel isn't stuck at all? Perhaps something has happened with the occupants of the lowest compartment?"_ Logan tried to reason.  
  
It was a possibility, but as more time passed, it was looking less and less likely.   
  
\-----------------  
  
 _"This view! This is amazing, Patton!"_ Roman gasped as he stared out the window of their compartment. The higher they went, the better the view was.  
  
 _"Eh, it's alright,"_ Dee shrugged, arms folded across his chest. Patton giggled. Was that so? Strange, Patton noticed Dee peering eagerly out the window at least once when he thought Roman and Patton weren't looking...  
  
 _"What are you laughing at?"_ Dee frowned. The befuddled expression on his face led to laughter from _Roman_ , much to Dee's chagrin. He ground his teeth together and let out a sigh, glancing out the window once more. It looked as though they were almost to the top-  
  
A sudden jolt went through the carriage, knocking some people to the floor. Unfortunately, Dee was one of them. Patton neatly fell as well, but Roman managed to grasp a bar on the side of the compartment to steady himself and caught Patton with his other hand. _"Are you alright?"_ he looked Patton over closely, concerned expression on his face.  
  
Patton nodded, offering Roman a shaky smile in return. _"This ride is so amazing it knocks you off your feet, doesn't it?"_  
  
Dee groaned. Roman's face relaxed and he let out a few chuckles. Even Dee offered a reluctant smile after a moment or so.   
  
_"Was it supposed to do that?"_ Dee arched a brow. If so, he might have to write a strongly worded letter to whoever ran this ride. He wasn't against stopping the ride (the view _was_ amazing, though his stubborn pride would not allow him to outright admit it), but an advanced warning before a jerky stop like that would save them a lot of hassle (and potential lawsuits).  
  
Patton shook his head. _"It's never done that before when I've been on it. The ride stops all the time to let people on and off, but when it stops it usually stops slowly, not all at once like that."_  
  
 _"...so the ferris wheel is doing something it's not supposed to do?"_ Roman frowned. _"Is something wrong with it?"_ he glanced down at the floor of their carriage.

 _"I'm not sure, but...I guess we'll see by how long it takes before we start moving again?"_ Patton frowned.   
  
_"Least the view isn't terrible,"_ Roman grinned, gazing toward Patton as he spoke.  
  
 _"Awww, Roman, that's so sweet!"_ Patton squealed.  
  
Dee grumbled and looked out the glass once more. Why did he think it was a good idea to ride with the lovebirds? He very much felt like he was merely tagging along at this point, and it was kind of annoying.  
  
The view outside was nice, but Dee had almost as much fun observing the others in their compartment. There were a few people who were either talking or playing on what Dee knew to be 'mobile phones' along the lines of what Logan and Virgil were using to take their pictures before they went up. Others were staring down towards the ground as if they might be able to glean what was happening below that might have contributed to their current situation. Two parents were trying to soothe a crying toddler.  
  
Yeah, Virgil probably made the correct move in passing on this ride. He could only imagine how bent out of shape Virgil would be if he were with them at this height.   
  
Though Dee did wish that Logan would have accompanied him at least, so that he wouldn't have to feel like so much of a third wheel.   
  
_"How're you holding up, Dee?"_ Patton asked.  
  
 _"Just peachy. Never been better,"_ Dee remarked.  
  
 _"I'm sorry,"_ the former Hufflepuff blurted out in response.  
  
 _"I was not aware that you had anything to do with this mishap?"_ Dee arched a brow.  
  
 _"I didn't, but I did...I mean I have nothing to do with the wheel getting stuck, that just happened, but I'm the one who suggested we come here in the first place. It just feels like...I wanted to show you guys something really nice, and it started off that way! But now everything's gone wrong!"_ Patton sighed.

 _"Wrong? I don't see where anything has gone wrong, Pat!"_ Roman spoke up.  
  
 _"...what?"_ Patton blinked back in surprise.   
  
_"We are currently privy to an amazing view of London, and I get to share this experience with my fiance and one of my good friends!"_ Roman elaborated.  
  
While Dee agreed that none of this was directly Patton's fault? Unlike Roman, he was not in outright denial in regards to the situation. He briefly considered apparating and suggesting that the other two do the same, but realized that they were surrounded by Muggles.  
  
Even if the Muggles didn't pay them much heed otherwise, they'd certainly look when three loud snaps echoed through the compartment and three people seemingly _vanished_ from the area.

And Dee didn't feel like dealing with the headache that would ensue once the Ministry inevitably found themselves involved in the scenario were they to use magic in front of the Muggles. They'd be questioned at the very least, and as someone who was still _technically_ on the run? The further he stayed away from the Ministry and anyone involved the better.

Dee was caught up in his thoughts. Patton was too busy professing all of the ways in which sharing this experience with _Roman_ was romantic as well, trying to capture the same sentiment that his so-called "fiance" bestowed upon him moments before. Roman would have been flattered...  
  
...had he actually been _Roman_.  
  
Neither Dee nor Patton noticed "Roman's" hand slipping into his pocket where his wand rested. Neither of them witnessed him closing his hand tightly around it as he gave a nonverbal incantation. They didn't even notice the grin that slowly spread across his face as his spell took effect.  
  
They were too busy lurching forward as the ferris wheel started again, picking up speed until it was going as fast as it was before, and then faster... _and faster_...


	21. Chapter 21

Virgil let out a sigh of relief when, after several minutes, the ferris wheel began to move once more.  
  
His relief was short-lived, as the wheel gained speed.   
  
_"What on Earth?"_ Logan gaped, echoing similar sentiments to the ones in Virgil's mind. The ferris wheel was going _way_ faster than it was prior to its stop, so fast that he couldn't imagine that it was safe - or intentional on the part of the ride operators.  
  
And then it stopped once more. A person nearby gasped. _"If that's how it's going to operate while they run it, it would be better for them to just stop the ride altogether until everyone is off of it!"_  
  
Virgil had to agree. A moment passed before the ferris wheel started again, quickly gaining speed. 

And this continued. Starting, stopping, starting, stopping...something was terribly, _horribly_ wrong, and his friends and brother were up there!

Logan stared up at the wheel with a contemplative expression. In the meantime Virgil's attention shifted to the shouts that were occurring near the entrance to the ride.  
  
_"Just stop it!"_ a man barked.  
  
_"My son is up there!"_ a woman screamed.  
  
_"I can't-"_ the ride operator began, but those surrounding him would not permit him to finish his sentence.  
  
_"Bollocks!"_ a man spat. _"It's obvious that you don't have the faintest idea what you're doing!"_  
  
_"I'm trying-"_ the young man tried to explain, but the crowd continued to shout over him. Virgil frowned. The ride operator looked to be 19 or 20 at most - similar in age to Virgil and Logan, in other words.  
  
_"Try harder!"_ a woman growled. A number of people around her shouted their agreements.  
  
_"I'm trying, but I can't seem to do anything! The controls aren't responding to me,"_ the young man tried to explain, but his voice was once again drowned out by the people gathered around him.  
  
The color drained from Virgil's face. His legs grew shaky. The controls weren't responding to the ride operator? Virgil didn't see how that was possible unless...  
  
_"No, this is not operator error,"_ Logan murmured. Virgil's expression was nothing short of horrorstruck as he turned to Logan.  
  
Virgil thought the same thing, but it was somehow _so much worse_ hearing Logan reach the same conclusion at the same time.

This was no accident. Someone was doing this _intentionally_. And it was someone with magic.  
  
Someone using magic to terrify and possibly _hurt_ Muggles.  
  
_We have to do something,_ Virgil thought. He had the presence of mind to stash his wand in a long inside pocket of his hoodie, _just in case_. He'd gone through a number of scenarios they might face in his head, but this? There was no way he could have prepared for this!  
  
_"If we only had our wands..."_ Logan whispered. _"We can utilize wandless and nonverbal magic, but it is unlikely to be as effective..."_  
  
Virgil unzipped his hoodie, then cleared his throat. Logan glanced at him. Virgil motioned for Logan to stand directly in front of him. Logan, though puzzled, obliged. Virgil checked to make certain that no one was watching from any other vantage point, then reached into the pocket inside his hoodie and retrieved his wand.  
  
Logan's eyes widened. Virgil took his wand and slid it up the left sleeve of his hoodie, then rolled the end of his sleeve down so that the hoodie covered his left hand, and closed his left hand around the edge of his wand while the rest of his wand was held against his lower arm. It wasn't the most ideal way to hold a wand, nor was it comfortable, but it would have to do.

 _"Brilliant thinking, Virgil,"_ Logan told him.   
  
Virgil didn't think it was particularly brilliant, just overly cautious. But being overly cautious paid off sometimes, which made it hard not to be overly cautious _all_ of the time. It was really a double-edge sword if you asked him.

The next step was figuring out how to get the wheel to stop spinning - or at least to _keep_ it stopped. If they had to, people could be rescued from even the higher parts of the ferris wheel with the right equipment. They could only do so if the ferris wheel stayed in place, however. If it continued to alternate between stopping and going (especially when 'going' meant spinning at speeds higher than the ride was intended to go), no one could carry out any sort of rescue. It would be too risky.  
  
Fortunately, Virgil had one more weapon up his figurative sleeve (as opposed to the one up his _literal_ sleeve.   
  
He had Logan on the case, and Virgil's boyfriend was _good_ at this.

_"I am not certain what spell the person or persons are using on the wheel, but I suspect that a Freezing Charm should stop the wheel in its metaphorical - or literal, I admit that I'm not 100% certain of the mechanics of a ferris wheel - tracks,"_ Logan muttered, talking just loud enough for Virgil to hear.

Virgil began to lift his wand.

_"Wait!"_ gasped Logan, startling Virgil out of his concentration.

"Hmmm?" Virgil asked. 

_"If we merely stop the wheel, we will contribute to this. Part of the problem is that the wheel comes to an abrupt stop after going at an advanced speed, and that can lead to injuries or worse, depending on the person,"_ Logan admitted. _"An object in motion stays in motion until acted up by an outside force. The carriage will have been acted upon by an outside force. The people within the carriage? Not so much."_

They were being thrown around by the abrupt changes in speed, in other words, and if Virgil stopped the wheel without doing anything else he would merely contribute to that one last time.

Virgil could see the Logan working through the problem in his head. _"I've got it,"_ Logan announced at last.

Virgil stared imploringly at him, impatiently motioning for him to continue. The sooner they did this, the sooner they'd be able to rescue those on the ferris wheel.

_"The Slowing Charm, or Arresto Momentum, should do the trick. While not a perfect solution, it will lower their speed to a velocity that is easier to convert to a complete stop with minimal injury,"_ Logan replied.

Virgil nodded. He didn't understand _everything_ , but he understood enough to know what he needed to do and why.

The only issue _now_ was casting the spells. The Slowing Charm would be no issue, as it produced no light. Thus, he could easily cast the spell without drawing undue attention to himself.

The Freezing Charm, on the other hand, producted a _blue_ light...that would be a lot harder to disguise from the Muggles surrounding them.


	22. Chapter 22

While Virgil and Logan worked out a feasible solution, Dee was muttering every curse word that he knew under his breath.  
  
 _It could be worse,_ he tried to reason. _The wheel could detach itself from the rest of the ride. The wheel could be on fire. The wheel could detach itself from the rest of the ride_ and _be on fire._  
  
This didn't help much.   
  
Some of the stops were longer than others, Dee noted. There was no discernible pattern to the stops, only that they would inevitably _happen_. Then, of course, they would be followed by incessant spinning before grinding to an abrupt halt once more.  
  
Each time a stop happened, Dee took the opportunity to adjust his grip on the bar that he'd grasped. This strategy worked for Dee thus far - he hadn't sustained any injuries, unlike a _few_ people in their compartment who were thrown into things - but he wondered when it was going to _stop_.  
  
This particular stop was longer than most of the others. Dee hoped that no one would jinx it.  
  
Patton glanced around. _"Has it stopped for good? I think it might have finally stopped for g-"_   
  
As if on cue, the ride started again. Patton would have been thrown off balance had Roman not wrapped his arm around him and steadied him in place.  
  
 _Dammit Patton,_ Dee hissed mentally. Not only was he growing sick of the constant jerking motions, but he wondered how long this would last. He took his potion before he left, but if they were stuck on this ride of doom for _hours_ , would the effects of the potion wear off before his next opportunity to take it.  
  
A certain _someone_ , however, was having an absolute blast. _Round and round and round we go! When we stop, nobody knows!_ Remus sung in his head as they spun around and around and around, only to inevitably come to another halt. Remus buried his nose in his shoulder to suppress a giggle as he witnessed a young man smacking his face into one of the windows during the sudden stop. Either he hadn't gotten the memo to hold onto something or he lost his grip, but either way? Remus considered it _quality_ entertainment.  
  
He could do this all day. Maybe someone would even go through the glass one of these times! He wondered how many impacts it would take to weaken the glass to that point...  
  
New experiment!  
  
Remus barely managed to fight back a grin as he started the ride all over again.   
  
Dee cursed loudly.

It didn't help that neither Patton nor Dee had access to the same information that Virgil and Logan were privy to. Virgil and Logan knew from what they overheard that the ride operator had no control over the ride. For all Patton and Dee knew, the ride may merely be malfunctioning.  
  
Dee made a mental note to _never_ do something like this again.  
  
He sighed and braced himself as he began to feel the ride slow down once more.  
  
Wait... _feel it slowing down_?  
  
That was both new and welcome. Patton smiled. Roman looked around in confusion, as if the answer to what slowed the ride lay within their very compartment.  
  
If only they knew _why_ Roman was so confused.  
  
\--------------  
  
Virgil let his arm fall back to his side. He'd slowed the ride. The corners of his mouth began to twitch upward until he saw that the ferris wheel was gaining speed once more.   
  
Virgil narrowed his eyes and peered around. Whoever was tampering with the ferris wheel was still in the area. He raised his hand once more. _Arresto Momentum!_  
  
Virgil should have know it wouldn't be easy. He and the mystery caster went back and forth several times. Virgil began to wonder if the tamperer would _ever_ give up. He could keep going for now, but he wasn't sure how long he could last, or how long his opponent wanted to participate.   
  
His opponent was impatient, apparently, because one minute passed without interference.  
  
Or maybe he just had enough fun for one day.  
  
\--------------  
  
The actual truth was something a little different.  
  
Remus had a hard time keeping up the charade _and_ acting normal around Patton and Dee, who were growing increasingly distracting.

But more than that, Remus wanted answers.   
  
He _knew_ that someone with magic was interfering with his fun. It was the only explanation. He knew that it wasn't Patton or Dee - he would _know_ if it was one of them, but neither of them even seemed aware that _magic_ was at play when it came to the ferris wheel's malfunctions.   
  
There was, of course, the possibility that someone else was in the area - a Ministry employee or something - that managed to get the situation 'under control' (oh how he _hated_ being stifled like that).  
  
But he suspected something - or rather some _one_ else - and his curiosity outweighed his urge to keep going for now. That, and he didn't want to give away who he was right away. He was playing for the long game. The longer he pretended to be his brother, the more havoc he could wreak, until his brother's life was left unrecognizable. As much fun as he was having, if he blew it all _now_ it was hardly even worth the effort.  
  
There were two wizards that Remus absolutely _knew_ were in the area, and Remus suspected that at least one of them, if not _both_ , were responsible for this.  
  
He was going to find out who it was, and make sure to save some _extra_ fun for him (or them).   
  
Patton cheered when they _finally_ reached the ground. The first to depart the ride were people who were injured, presumably to obtain medical help. Remus chewed on his lip to stop himself from giggling at the sight of some of them as pride welled up in him.  
  
That was _his_ handiwork!  
  
Alas, none of them were injured _too_ badly, but he saw at least one person with a broken nose, so it wasn't a total loss.  
  
When the three stepped off of the ride, Virgil and Logan were already running up to greet them.


	23. Chapter 23

Virgil knew that he should have felt more relieved when the ferris wheel continued to run properly, but he didn't.  
  
He didn't feel relieved until the moment he witnessed Patton, Roman, and Dee disembarking from the ride.  
  
_"Well that was fun. Let's do that again sometime,"_ he heard Dee comment in a sardonic tone to Roman and Patton.  
  
Virgil took a closer look at the three to make sure that his friends and brother did not have any injuries. He did see people with scrapes and bruises after all.  
  
_"Logan! Virgil! Did you see what happened? That was so scary!"_ gasped Patton.  
  
_"What happened? Was there some sort of issue with the ride?"_ Roman frowned.  
  
_"In a matter of speaking,"_ Logan replied.  
  
_"The hell does that mean?"_ Dee snapped. Virgil jolted in surprise at the amount of vitriol in the question, casting a glance at Dee. He expected Dee to merely look annoyed, but upon closer attention he noted that Dee actually looked somewhat _frazzled_.  
  
_"It means that yes, there was an issue with the ride, though it was not a malfunction of the ride's hardware or software,"_ Logan continued.  
  
_"...yeah I don't know what half of those words mean,"_ Roman admitted.  
  
Logan glanced around to make sure that no one was listening in, then whispered just loud enough for Virgil, Dee, Roman, and Patton to hear. _"The ride was tampered with."_  
  
_"Is this something that happens often with these rides?"_ Dee muttered, eying the ferris wheel above them warily.   
  
_"Not at all,"_ Logan assured him. _"Said tampering was not the work of a Muggle or Muggles."_  
  
_"...wait, what?"_ Patton's eyes went wide.  
  
_"You're saying this was magic?"_ Roman gasped.   
  
_"Undoubtedly so,"_ Logan confirmed. _"That was evidenced by the struggle that ensued at the end when Virgil cast a Slowing Charm on the wheel."_  
  
_"You cast the Slowing Charm?"_ Roman turned to Virgil in surprise. Virgil rolled up his sleeve just enough to expose the wand hidden there. Roman nodded in understanding.  
  
_"Awww, you saved us? My hero!"_ Patton beamed, throwing his arms around an unsuspecting Virgil who was nearly thrown off balance in the process.

Virgil wanted to explain that it was _Logan_ who brainstormed the spells, but he couldn't reach for his pen and paper so long as he remained enveloped within Patton's bear hug. He did manage to move enough to adjust his arms to return Patton's hug, at least.

 _"Thank you for rescuing us. You truly have lived up to your name, Dark And Stormy Knight,"_ Roman told him.  
  
Virgil turned red, and it wasn't from Patton squeezing most of the air out of him (though that certainly didn't help). Patton relinquished his hold on Virgil and Virgil took a few greedy gulps of air nevertheless.  
  
_"Awwww...could we possibly, y'know, get the hell out of here before something like this happens again?"_ Dee hissed, eyeing the ferris wheel as if it might careen out of control again at any minute.  
  
Virgil didn't blame him - he was nervous about that too, and he wasn't even _on_ the ride when everything happened.  
  
Watching two people carried away on stretchers didn't help matters either. Virgil was immediately reminded of the Fiendfyre Attack, and an involuntary shudder went through him as he thought back to what he saw in the lobby of St. Mungo's.  
  
At least _this_ person was conscious. It looked as though their arm might be broken, but it also looked as though they would survive.  
  
He couldn't say the same for the person he saw in the lobby of St. Mungo's...he didn't know whether that person lived or died.  
  
He didn't even know their name.  
  
He tried to reach for his pen and paper, but his hands were shaking too badly to hope of writing anything legible at this point in time. Even if he could talk, he had a feeling he'd struggle with _that_ too.   
  
He remained silent as the group traveled away from the ferris wheel. In fact, no one had much to say until Logan stopped. _"I told my parents to meet us here. They should be here shortly,"_ he announced.  
  
True to Logan's word, the Dicaxes were there within fifteen minutes. The group piled into the Dicaxes' car, and they set off for the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
_"Did you see what happened at the Eye? It wasn't far from where you lot were,"_ Tara wondered.  
  
Dee burst into laughter, much to Virgil's surprise.  
  
_"No, we haven't the faintest clue. It's not like we were_ on _it or anything,"_ he hissed between nearly hysterical chortles.

 _"...were you on it?"_ Armand asked. He looked directly at Logan as he said it. It was clear that while he was curious about _everyone_ , he was most concerned about his son's safety.  
  
 _"No,"_ Logan admitted truthfully, and Tara let out a sigh of relief. The tension in Armand's shoulders visibly let up, as Virgil expected. He could not help but smile a little at what he was seeing. Logan really did have good parents.  
  
 _"Patton, Roman, and Lionel were, however "_ he revealed. Tara's grip on the steering wheel tightened.  
  
Tara and Armand, of course, had more questions after that.  
  
Virgil found it hard to pay much heed to what was being said. He was wide awake physically, but he felt emotionally _exhausted_ by everything that happened.  
  
So exhausted, in fact, that he would almost swear that he saw Roman _grin in delight_ when Patton described someone with a broken nose.  
  
But then he blinked again and Roman looked solemn, so Virgil _knew_ that he had to be imagining things.  
  
He sighed and threw his hood up, trying to block out the rest of the conversation in the car and simply focus on watching the traffic zoom by. That he could handle. By the time they reached the Leaky Cauldron once more, he was doing considerably better.


	24. Chapter 24

The first thing Virgil did when he, Logan, and Dee walked through the door to Renilda's flat was plop onto the couch and let out a heavy sigh.  
  
 _"Rough day?"_ Professor Picani's voice rang out as he entered from the kitchen.  
  
Virgil jerked in surprise before recognizing Professor Picani and nodding.  
  
 _"I'd say the Ferris Wheel Of Death was the highlight,"_ Dee noted.  
  
 _"Did I just hear someone say 'Ferris Wheel Of Death'?"_ Renilda asked, carrying a half-asleep Renata in her arms.  
  
 _"What exactly do you mean by 'Ferris Wheel Of Death'?"_ Professor Picani furrowed his brow. _"Is there a new top thrill ride in town I don't know about?"_  
  
 _"Someone tampered with the London Eye,"_ Logan clarified.  
  
Professor Picani's eyes went wide. _"The London Eye? Why would they do that?"_  
  
 _"What is the London Eye?"_ Renilda wondered, echoing her sons' confusion from earlier.  
  
 _"Its a large wheel that people can ride on,"_ Professor Picani informed her. _"When you say tampered with...what do you mean by that?"_  
  
 _"Round and round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows!"_ Dee grumbled.  
  
 _"...strangely, what Dee says sums up what happened rather well,"_ Logan admitted.  
  
 _It was magic,_ Virgil wrote.  
  
 _"Sufferin' succotash!"_ Professor Picani exclaimed.  
  
 _"How do you know it was magic?"_ Renilda frowned.  
  
 _"The ride operator expressed to a crowd of discontented onlookers that he lost control of the ride's operation,"_ Logan explained.  
  
 _"A likely story,"_ Dee scoffed.   
  
_"What reason would he have to lie?"_ Logan inquired. When Dee opened his mouth to retort, Logan cleared his throat and held up a finger to signal him to wait. _"What reason would he have to tamper with the ride and jeopardize his livelihood? Virgil also struggled to slow the ride using a Slowing Charm; if the mishaps were merely a malfunction or Muggle sabotage his spell would not have encountered the amount of resistance there was."_  
  
 _"Virgil cast the Slowing Charm on it? Bravo V!"_ Renilda told her youngest son, beaming.  
  
Virgil could feel his face turning red. Ugh, it was just a compliment, _why_ was he so easily embarrassed?  
  
 _"Well I'm glad you three are safe. That had to be scary for you!"_ Renilda continued.  
  
 _"Virgil and I did not enter the ride. Only Patton, Roman, and Lionel did,"_ Logan noted.  
  
The conversation continued for several minutes more, with Virgil, Logan, and Dee spending most of their time rehashing the details of the day's events to Renilda and Professor Picani (including the suit shopping, which felt as though it happened _days_ before at this point).  
  
When the conversation was over and everyone began to go their separate ways, Virgil and Logan quickly made their way to Virgil's room. Virgil fell face first onto his bed, reaching for the black cat plushie that rested on his bed and giving it a squeeze.  
  
Logan cleared his throat, presumably to get Virgil's attention.   
  
"Hmmm?" Virgil hummed.  
  
 _"I must confess, our rendezvous with my parents was only one subject I discussed in my chat with them,"_ Logan admitted.  
  
...why was Logan telling him this now?  
  
 _"I asked them to retrieve an item for me earlier,"_ Logan continued. _"This was shortly before the...unfortunate events that occurred with the ferris wheel. They informed me after they agreed to our rendezvous point that they were successful in obtaining the item I requested."_  
  
Logan removed a long, thin, and rectangular object from his pocket. A mobile phone much like the one that Logan showed him earlier, only it wasn't the same phone. Logan's was dark blue. This one was _purple_.   
  
Logan's favorite color was dark blue, not purple. Purple was Virgil's favorite color. Logan extended his arm, holding the purple phone out toward Virgil. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a rare smile. 

_"I believe this is yours,"_ Logan informed him, thus confirming Virgil's suspicions.   
  
Virgil eyed the device in Logan's hand for a moment before actually taking it into his own hand.  
  
Upon closer inspection, the device looked different than Logan's in more than just color. It was slightly thinner and slightly longer. The border around the screen was different. It was unmistakably a mobile phone, but it was not an exact copy of Logan's. It was _his_.  
  
The corners of Virgil's mouth slowly twitched upward as well. This wasn't just some vague idea that he and Logan swapped while they were taking pictures with Logan's phone. Logan recognized Virgil's interest in utilizing the text to speech feature to aid in his communication, and put everything in motion to allow him to set to work on it as soon as possible.  
  
Virgil wasn't stupid. He knew that this wasn't the same as getting his voice back. He might _never_ get his voice back. But if this worked, if Virgil learned how to use this...he could communicate faster. He could speak out loud. He wouldn't have to worry about being talked over, or fading to the background in conversations because people got so involved in their own verbal conversations that they did not pay much heed to the guy who couldn't say anything out loud without it turning into a jumbled up mess.

He could still communicate via pen and paper too, if he needed to. He could still use gestures. Having a phone to translate his text into speech would not inhibit any of that.

But it would offer him another tool that he could add to his arsenal, and for that he was grateful.  
  
Ferris wheel incident notwithstanding, Virgil found that he rather enjoyed his first big foray into the Muggle world. He wouldn't mind visiting again at some point. He just didn't think he'd be stepping foot anywhere near any ferris wheels again any time soon.


	25. Chapter 25

Virgil immediately set to work on playing around with his phone, eager to learn as much about it as he could. A day or so after he obtained said phone, it turned off when he was in the middle of typing something, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to get it working again. He went to Logan as soon as he could. As soon as he entered the room, he cleared his throat and pointed to the phone.  
  
 _"What?"_ Logan looked up from his book in confusion.  
  
Virgil tried pressing the power button. Nothing happened. He looked to Logan.  
  
Logan's eyes went wide. _"Oh dear, that must have slipped my mind. My apologies, Virgil. You have to keep your phone charged in order for it to continue working."_  
  
...say _what_ now?  
  
Logan placed a bookmark in his book and closed it, setting the book down and rising to his feet. _"Follow me."_  
  
Virgil did as instructed, still feeling a tad antsy. If Logan forgot to tell him he needed to do something, it wasn't _Virgil's_ fault, he didn't break the device...but didn't Logan say that the phone needed to be charged in order for it to continue to work?  
  
It stopped working for Virgil because Virgil didn't _know_ it needed to be charged. Did that mean that it wouldn't work anymore? Where was Logan even taking him?  
  
 _"Eh...what's up Doc?"_ Professor Picani greeted when Virgil and Logan entered the room.  
  
 _"I applaud your Bugs Bunny impression, it was spot on,"_ Logan confessed, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in amusement.  
  
Virgil could not help but smile as well, even though he did not understand the reference.   
  
Professor Picani gave a slight bow, then smiled at the two young men. _"What can I do you for today?"_  
  
Logan looked to Virgil. Virgil held up his phone. _"My parents purchased a mobile device for Virgil, and I neglected to mention that said device needed to be charged. May we use the charger?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
Professor Picani smiled. _"Oh, of course! Just lemme unplug this...there we go!"_  
  
 _Unplug?_ Virgil didn't know much about electricity, being a pureblood, but he did know that most wizarding establishments - including the ones in Diagon Alley - did not have electricity.   
  
_"Professor Picani and I made this a while back. Most wizarding establishments do not have electricity, but as half-bloods, we wished to utilize some of our items from the Muggle world. It isn't anything too fancy, but it generates enough electricity to run and/or charge a couple of devices,"_ Logan explained.  
  
Virgil let out a sigh of relief as he watched Logan connected Virgil's phone and this device via wire. Logan fixed the problem. He didn't break his gift less tha 24 hours after receiving it after all.  
  
Once his phone was charged once more, Virgil set back to work practicing.   
  
He knew it would take time, but he also knew that the more he practiced, the better he'd get - _especially_ in regards to the typing aspect. He primarily used it with Logan, wanting to wait until he could communicate more reliably before he used it too much around his other friends and family.  
  
He wanted to catch them off guard.

He found the perfect opportunity to do so one morning as everyone was sitting down for breakfast. By the time Virgil made it to the kitchen, Professor Picani, Logan, and Dee were seated at the table, and Renilda was heading over to the counter to grab salt and pepper.   
  
Virgil slipped his hand into his pocket and pressed play as he walked past Renilda. "Morning mum," the phone played back. Virgil continued on toward the table.   
  
_"Morning V, how did you s-"_ Renilda froze in mid response, her eyes going wide. _"Virgil, did you just talk?"_  
  
Professor Picani and Dee were staring in Virgil's direction as well. Logan, on the other hand, covered his mouth with his hand. Judging from the grin Virgil saw on Logan's face as he did this, Logan was trying not to laugh.  
  
Virgil shook his head, sliding into a seat. Renilda frowned. _"I could have sworn I heard you say 'morning mum' as you passed...but then again, it didn't sound like your voice..."_ she mused.  
  
The group began to eat. Virgil was fairly certain he saw Dee cast him a suspicious look, but Virgil eyed Dee back to get him to stop. The group made idle chitchat - aside from Virgil, who could not do so.  
  
Or so the others thought.  
  
"Logan, can you pass me the bacon?" Virgil asked. The voice was still somewhat tinny, but Virgil tries to pick the most realistic sounding voice that he could- with Logan's help at an earlier point, of course.  
  
 _"Of course, Virgil,"_ Logan was quick to reply.  
  
"Thanks," Virgil grinned, letting his phone rest in his lap as he grabbed the plate of bacon.  
  
 _"How are you doing that?"_ Dee stared.

Virgil shrugged. He would have responded with his phone, but he wanted to keep this going for as long as he could, and Dee might work out what was going on if he saw Virgil typing on his phone.  
  
As it was, Professor Picani gasped and let out a few snickers.  
  
 _"Don't tell me you're in on this too, Emile!"_ Renilda scolded. But her eyes were mirthful as she said it.  
  
 _"In on what?"_ Professor Picani smiled innocently.  
  
Virgil imagined Dee might have been a lot more frustrated were he not so preoccupied with figuring out what was going on.

Virgil decided to take pity on his mother and brother. Logan already knew what was going on, and Professor Picani appeared to have already worked out what was happening. 

Virgil lifted his phone up, showcasing it to the rest of the table. 

_"I knew it!"_ Professor Picani blurted out.

_"...isn't that one of those Muggle devices?"_ Dee eyed it. 

Virgil set down his phone so that he could type his response into it. Then he pressed play. "Yep. Pretty neat, isn't it?" He grinned. He certainly thought so. He hadn't had this much fun in a good while.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for ableism in this

Utilizing text to speech aided Virgil with more than just playing tricks on his family. Though his job still consisted primarily of sorting books at Flourish and Blotts, it was easier for him to communicate with his coworkers and boss, which worked to his advantage if he needed assistance. Fortunately, Madam Legere was accepting of Virgil's use of a Muggle device to aid him.  
  
Some of the customers, on the other hand...  
  
Virgil was approached by a man looking for a book concerning Alchemy when he was in the middle of setting up a display shelf of common schoolbooks. Virgil greeted him using his phone, as he'd taken to doing most of the time as of late.  
  
The man immediately frowned, wondering what Virgil was playing at. Rather than be excited that Virgil had an easier means to communicate, the man's face turned stony and he walked away. A few minuter later, he heard the man shout something to Madam Legere from the exit.

 _"And if he can't manage without the aid of some pathetic little Muggle toy, he shouldn't be working here anyway!"_ the man spat before storming out. There was absolutely no doubt in Virgil's mind that the man was referring to him. Virgil felt as if someone punched him in the stomach, knocking all of the air out of him.

Logan informed Virgil later that the man approached Madam Legere and informed her that he would no longer patronize Flourish and Blotts as long as 'that Mudblood was there'. When Madam Legere explained that Virgil was actually a _pureblood_ , the man amended his statement to 'blood traitor', but his overall opinion did not change. And Virgil didn't think it should, honestly - his blood should have no bearing on the man's opinion of him.  
  
Then again, nor should the assistive devices that he was utilizing, or the origin of said devices.  
Virgil was tempted to quit then and there. His hands were shaking, and he could hardly concentrate on what he was doing. He felt lightheaded, and it was hard for him to catch his breath. He plowed through, however. Madam Legere already had enough reason to fire him after someone complained, after all. He didn't want to give her any more reason to do so, and he wasn't even sure if he could get another job.  
  
It was a major blow, honestly. Virgil had been riding high on the new doors that were opening for him now that he could communicate. He actually dared to let himself hope that he might be able to obtain jobs that were previously off limits to him because he didn't think they would want someone who could not communicate verbally.  
  
And just like that, it all came crashing down.  
  
He could communicate, but what did it matter if they way he could communicate wasn't accepted by others in the wizarding world? Was it even worth putting his foot in the door if he was going to be pushed right back out, door slamming in his face?  
  
He knew that the man wasn't alone in this attitude, after all.

But Virgil powered through his shift. He thought he'd be relieved as soon as he stepped foot outside of the building, but he had no such luck. The growing distance between himself and the bookstore did not soothe him - in fact, if anything, it led him to ruminate on the incident _more_.  
  
Logan, being the observant man that he was, immediately called attention to this as soon as they entered their bedroom in the flat.  
  
Well, not _immediately_. He cast a muffling charm on the door and the surrounding walls first, presumably so that they would not be overheard. A wise move on Logan's part. Virgil felt reluctant to discuss the day's events in _general_ , but at least Logan knew what happened. Virgil wouldn't have to recount what happened to Logan, and thus force himself to relive the incident.  
  
 _"What that man said to you..."_ Logan began.  
  
"Leave it, Lo," Virgil replied through his phone. He couldn't believe that he actually thought this voice was almost _realistic_. No wonder the man hated it and wanted nothing to do with it. The voice sounded unnatural and fake.   
  
Why couldn't he just _talk like a normal person, dammit?_ He threw his phone at the bed.  
  
 _"Virgil...breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, breathe out for eight seconds..."_ Logan told him.  
  
What good was _that_ going to do? Virgil clenched his hands into fists, grinding his teeth together. It was a good thing he no longer had his phone in his hand, or he might have lobbed it at the wall instead of the soft surface of the bed.  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes. _"I should hope that man makes good on his promise not to return to Flourish and Blotts. He will rue the day he steps into my line of sight again."_  
  
Virgil opened the drawer to his nightstand, pulling out the pen and paper he used to keep in his pocket. Looked like it was back to this old standby. _Its not worth-_ Virgil began to write, very nearly writing 'I'm not worth it'. Logan had a future. Logan could be just about anything. Virgil could not.   
  
_"Use this,"_ Logan retrieved Virgil's phone and held it out for him.  
  
Virgil let out a bitter chuckle.

 _"You should not be made to feel ashamed of using an item that facilitates communication for yourself. That man's behavior...it utterly infuriates me,"_ Logan scowled.

Virgil frowned, still hesitant to take the phone.  
  
 _"His prejudice toward Muggles, Muggleborns, and those who support their integration into the wizarding world is abhorrent,"_ Logan continued. _"That being said, what infuriates me the most is the effect that his words have had on you. You..."_ Logan paused, as if trying to consider the best words to say. _"You were the happiest that I've seen you in a good while, and he took that away from you. Between his disgusting, outdated views and the way that he has treated you...as I said, he'd better hope that we never meet face to face again."_  
  
Virgil sighed. Knowing that he had Logan's support helped, but...  
  
 _"I recognize that you are hurt, and I will not rush you into anything that you are not ready for. That being said, I hope that you do not allow this to deter you from utilizing the text to speech function. By no means am I stating that you are required to use it, of course - that is your decision and your decision alone. But I should hope that one man's pitiful intolerance will not stand in the way of your happiness,"_ Logan asserted. _"If there is anything I can do to assist you at any point, do not hesitate.  
  
_ Virgil chewed on his lip, mulling over what Logan had to say. It didn't erase the hurt, but...it was a comfort nevertheless, to know that Logan's arms were open. __  



	27. Chapter 27

Virgil and Logan met Chelsea entirely by chance after work one day. Chelsea was walking out of the Daily Prophet office building, and she was _fuming_.  
  
 _"They can find someone else to write their stupid article. I made my own newspaper in school, and I can do it again,"_ Chelsea grumbled.  
  
 _"Bad day at work?"_ Logan asked. Chelsea jumped, not having noticed Virgil or Logan in her anger.  
  
 _"That would depend on your definition of work,"_ Chelsea replied.  
  
 _"Your place of employment?"_ Logan clarified, clearly confused by this question.  
  
 _"Yeah, that's the thing. It's not really my place of employment. Not anymore at least,"_ Chelsea explained.  
  
...wait, _what_?  
  
 _"You no longer work for the Daily Prophet?"_ Logan looked every bit as bewildered as Virgil felt.  
  
 _"Nope, effective as of..."_ Chelsea glanced down at her watch. _"...twenty minutes ago."_  
  
 _"My sincerest apologies,"_ Logan told her.  
  
Chelsea waved her hand. _"Its for the best."_  
  
 _"P...Pardon? I was under the impression that working for the Daily Prophet was your dream job?"_ Logan stared.  
  
 _"It was,"_ Chelsea confirmed. _"Emphasis on 'was'. I admit that I've had doubts in regards to their journalistic integrity prior to this point, but I was willing to look past that. Maybe I would be the force for change. So much for that."_  
  
 _"...I admit that I am still puzzled, though that may be because I am lacking key details necessary to understand what happened,"_ Logan admitted.  
  
 _"They wanted me to write an article that I did not feel comfortable publishing,"_ Chelsea told them.   
  
_"Could you not just ask for a different article?"_ Logan suggested.  
  
 _"I could have, but given the nature of their article and their attitude toward my refusal to cooperate with their instructions, I'm not so certain that I would have wanted to,"_ Chelsea confessed.

"That bad huh?" Virgil said through his phone. The corners of his mouth twitched as Chelsea peered around with a startled expression. He'd been hesitant to use his phone since the customer at Flourish and Blotts complained about him, but he was among friends now. He did not have to worry about judging eyes. Chelsea's reaction reminded Virgil of Renilda's reaction, and that was enough to send some of the old excitement rushing back.  
  
 _"Who said that?"_ she frowned.  
  
 _"Virgil did, of course,"_ Logan replied matter-of-factly, though Virgil knew his boyfriend well enough to detect the slight hint of amusement evident in his voice.  
  
 _"No he didn't, Virgil can't talk. Don't mess with me like that,"_ Chelsea folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"You're right, I can't," Virgil typed, pressing play once more.  
  
Chelsea turned to him at once, narrowing her eyes. _"How are you doing that?"_  
  
 _"Dee asked the same thing. His expression was similar to yours as well. Shall I explain, Virgil, or do you wish to do the honors?"_ Logan asked.  
  
Virgil shrugged. Logan took that as an invitation to go forward with his explanation. _"I do not know how much you know of Muggle technology, but my parents gifted Virgil with a mobile phone a couple of weeks ago."_  
  
 _"I know what a mobile phone is, but what does that have to do with Virgil talk...holy crap, he's talking with the phone, isn't he? That's freakin' fantastic!"_ Chelsea grinned. _"Also, we definitely need to exchange numbers. I've had one since I started dating Era a couple of years ago. Lot easier to call or send a text than it is to send an owl to Albania."_  
  
Virgil found himself smiling. Chelsea's excitement...it made it ever so slightly easier to push the customer at Flourish and Blotts' words to the wayside. He was a stranger that Virgil would (hopefully) never see again in his life. And Virgil had something that made his life easier...he could have easily seen himself falling into the background of Logan and Chelsea's conversation had he not used the text to speech function on his phone to insert himself into the conversation.  
  
He'd been doing a lot of that since he lost his voice. Sometimes it was intentional, but usually it was not. It was just _hard_ to say what he wanted to say in conversations larger than one on one when he could not speak out loud, and that meant that he often reserved his written communications for when he absolutely _needed_ to convey a thought or message. This wasn't always the case, but it often was.  
  
Now that he had text to speech, it didn't just open doors for him in terms of career options. It opened doors for him in day to day life. It genuinely made him feel _happier_.  
  
...and it was this more than anything else that made him realize just how _unfair_ the man at Flourish and Blotts was being. He wanted Virgil to be miserable just so that _he_ did not have to confront his own prejudices, and that wasn't right.  
  
 _"But anyway, you guys up to anything special? I wouldn't mind hanging out with you two for a bit. Not like I have anywhere special to be,"_ Chelsea shrugged.  
  
 _"You are not concerned about your lack of employment?"_ Logan frowned.  
  
"Logan, you can't just go around asking people if they're concerned about their lack of employment," Virgil scolded. The voice coming from his phone was fairly monotone, but the snickers coming from Virgil's mouth belied his true intentions with those words - they were meant to _tease_.  
  
 _"Not really?"_ Chelsea admitted. _"I mean, I am, but I already have a plan in place. I'm going to try to start my own paper."_  
  
 _"That is going to be quite the undertaking,"_ Logan warned. _"It may be advisable to take on another job while you attempt to get your own newspaper established."_  
  
 _"Duh,"_ Chelsea rolled her eyes. _"That's what I plan to do. Think I might try for the Quibbler. I've heard they're a lot more easygoing about what they publish."_  
  
 _"That is because they'll publish just about anything,"_ Logan noted.  
  
 _"I wouldn't say that's true. I cannot see the Quibbler asking one of its junior reporters to write an article denoting the security concerns regarding Muggleborns attending Hogwarts,"_ Chelsea huffed.  
  
 _"...they asked you to write about that?"_ Logan's eyes went wide.  
  
 _"Sure did. Security concerns with Muggleborns attending Hogwarts..."_ Chelsea scoffed. _"More like they don't think Muggleborns are worthy to attend Hogwarts."_   
  
But it was a whole lot easier for them to get away with saying it by phrasing it as 'security concerns'...


	28. Chapter 28

Virgil, Logan, and Chelsea decided to visit the Magical Menagerie. Virgil wanted to pick up cat food for Storm and some crickets and mealworms for Charlotte, and Chelsea needed to buy something for her owl as well. Logan noted that he had all of the supplies he needed for his owl, but he would still accompany Virgil and Chelsea. Perhaps he would even find something he wished to purchase after all.  
  
The group found plenty to discuss on their walk to their next destination. Virgil expected a bit of small talk, and that was probably what Chelsea was _aiming_ to generate with her question, but it quickly evolved into something more.   
  
_"Did the two of you hear about what happened with the London Eye?"_ Chelsea asked. _"I pay attention to both Muggle and wizarding news, and it was all over the Muggle news!"_  
  
 _"We did not hear or read about it because we were present as the events unfolded,"_ Logan admitted.  
  
Chelsea's eyes went wide. _"You were on it?"_  
  
Virgil and Logan both shook their heads. "We stayed on the ground and took some pictures," Virgil explained.  
  
 _"Why'd you even go then?"_ Chelsea frowned.  
  
 _"We were accompanied by Adam, Patton, and Roman,"_ Logan divulged. _"We did not step foot onto the ferris wheel, but those three did."_  
  
 _"Roman, Patton, and D-Adam were on it?"_ Chelsea gasped.

Logan nodded. _"We were already in Muggle London to pick up our tuxes for the wedding, and Patton suggested visiting the London Eye whilst we were there."_

 _"Its a good thing that no one was killed,"_ Chelsea observed, looking troubled at the thought of it.  
  
 _"There were injuries, though,"_ Logan acknowledged.  
  
 _"Yeah, I heard there were injuries. Something like eight or nine people sent to the hospital? Nothing life threatening though, which is really a miracle if you've seen the video..."_ Chelsea said with a shake of her head.  
  
 _"We have no need to glimpse the video, as we were present when the events occured,"_ Logan reminded her.  
  
 _"Oh yeah, I imagine it had to be even worse with all of that happening right in front of you,"_ she frowned. _"From what I saw, the Muggle authorities were still at a loss as to how it occured, which is even scarier. Almost makes me wonder if magic was involved."_  
  
"It was," Virgil replied. Chelsea looked at him in surprise, and Virgil couldn't tell whether it was because she was caught off guard by what he said, or if she was still trying to get used to the fact that Virgil was speaking through a phone.  
  
 _"How do you know it was magic?"_ Chelsea wondered. _"Not that I disagree with you, but what makes you so certain?"_  
  
 _"Virgil had the presence of mind to bring his wand with him, and he thus cast a nonverbal spell to slow the ferris wheel. There was someone actively fighting against him as this occured,"_ Logan elaborated.  
  
 _"...so someone did this intentionally. It was an intentional attack on Muggles,"_ Chelsea gaped. _"And yet there are people who want to use this to claim that Muggles are the dangerous ones because of so-called 'freak accidents'? I just...when I get my newspaper off the ground, I'm going to blow this whole thing wide open,"_ Chelsea narrowed her eyes in determination.

"Just be careful," Virgil warned her. He wanted the truth out too, but he didn't want Chelsea to wind up hurt - or worse - in the process.

Chelsea waved a hand, clearly not as concerned for her own safety, and changed the subject. _"Did you guys pick up all of the tuxes or just yours?"_  
  
 _"We picked up the majority of them, but not all. You will be wearing the green tux, if I recall correctly?"_ Logan noted.  
  
Chelsea replied with a nod. _"I think we're still waiting to hear who will wear the orange one. I think its between Astrit and Shane at this point. Elliott is designing their own outfit, and Era and Paige already told me that they plan to wear dresses. I'm just glad that I don't have to wear one. I already wore enough of those at our father's parties when I was younger."_ She seemed to shudder at the memory. _"Alas, that's in the past."_ She turned to Logan and Virgil. _"Remind me what colors the two of you will be again?"_  
  
"Indigo and purple," Virgil responded.  
  
 _"And Patton and Roman are blue and red, respectively. That means Adam is yellow?"_ Chelsea deduced.  
  
 _"That is correct,"_ Logan replied.  
  
 _"Huh, should be easy enough to remember. His animagus form is a yellow snake after all,"_ Chelsea remarked.  
  
 _"Speaking of snakes, shall we pick up some feeder mice for Samantha while we are here as well?"_ Logan inquired as they approached the door to the Magical Menagerie. Logan reached the door and pulled it open, holding it open for Virgil and Chelsea to step though before he strode through himself.  
  
 _"...Samantha? Who is Samantha and why are we giving her mice?"_ Chelsea arched an eyebrow.

 _"As 'speaking of snakes' would imply, Samantha is a snake,"_ Logan noted.  
  
 _"I gathered that much, but whose...nevermind, I can only think of one person in your household that would want a snake for a pet,"_ Chelsea said with a snort.  
  
"Bingo," Virgil said, accompanying the statement with a smirk.  
  
 _"Well I'm happy for him. A snake sounds like a good pet for him,"_ Chelsea observed.   
  
"Oh, you have no idea," Virgil said through his phone, the chuckle that accompanied his statement denoting his amusement even where his phone could not.  
  
 _"Agreed. He is quite the doting father to Samantha,"_ Logan acknowledged, the twitching at the corners of his mouth hinting at his own amusement about the matter.  
  
 _"Oh look, Patton's on the clock today!"_ Chelsea pointed out, noting Patton helping out a customer with an large brown owl. He glanced in their direction, a smile crossing his face as he spotted his friends.  
  
His friends waved back in return.

Virgil thought it would be a quick trip in and out of Magical Menagerie, but he was willing to wait around a bit longer so that he could be helped by one of his best friends. He didn't know when he'd see Patton next after this, though he certainly hoped that it would be before the dress rehearsal of the wedding, which he'd already been invited to ahead of time as he was the best man.  
  
The last time that he'd seen Patton was the day of the ferris wheel incident, after all.

And was it just him, or did Patton's smile not quite reach his eyes?


	29. Chapter 29

Rather than stand around and stare at Patton as they waited for him to finish with the customer he was currently assisting, the trio opted to do some of their shopping. Virgil carefully helped himself to a container full of crickets for Charlotte. Next, he traveled to the cat toy section, purchasing a toy mouse on a string for Storm.   
  
By the time he met back up with Chelsea and Logan, he had everything that he needed except for the feeder mice for Samantha.  
  
 _"I believe an employee has to retrieve the mice for us,"_ Logan noted.   
  
_"Good thing we know an employee then, right?"_ Chelsea grinned.  
  
Virgil glanced over at the area Pattom was helping the customer in prior, only to find that the former Hufflepuff was no longer there. Virgil frowned, hoping that Patton-  
  
 _"Hey guys!"_ Patton's voice announced from behind them.  
  
...needless to say, he _wasn't_ hoping for Patton to approach from behind them and unintentionally scare the living daylights out of them.  
  
Then again, Chelsea and Logan looked unbothered for the most part, so maybe Patton only scared the living daylights out of _him_. He supposed it wasn't that big of a surprise, given how easily he could startle.  
  
 _"There anything in particular I can help you guys with or did you find everything you need?"_ Patton asked with a smile. This time, the smile _did_ reach his eyes. Virgil was relieved until he took a closer look at Patton.  
  
Were those bags under his eye?  
  
 _"I believe the only additional item that we need is mice for Adam's pet snake,"_ Logan told Patton.  
  
 _"Adam?"_ Patton frowned, furrowing his brow. _"Who's..."_ Comprehension dawned on his features after several seconds. _"Oh, right! I'll go get them for you. How many were you thinking, about five?"_  
  
Virgil nodded silently.  
  
 _"I'll be right back then!"_ Patton informed him, then set off for the back of the store.  


Chelsea elbowed him in the side as Patton slipped through the doors into the back from. _"The hell, why didn't you use your phone? That's what it's for isn't it?"_ she pointed out in a half teasing tone.   
  
On the one hand, Chelsea had a point. On the other hand...  
  
Virgil had his reasons for his hesitation to use his phone in a crowded store like this. He didn't know if he was ready to deal with any additional comments about his using a 'Muggle toy' to communicate.   
  
In addition, he had _other_ things on his mind when Patton asked him if five mice would be enough. These so called 'things' concerned _Patton himself_.

_"I wonder if Patton is getting the requisite amount of sleep?"_ Logan commented. This assured Virgil that at least he wasn't the only one who noticed the bags under Patton's eyes. He expected Patton to be a bit frazzled with preparing for the wedding, but not to the point where it was visible on his face. It also took him longer than usual to recognize their code name for Dee...  
  
Virgil was worried.  
  
Before Virgil could make his own comment regarding Patton's less than ideal appearance, Patton returned with the five feeder mice. _"Is there anything else I can help you with today?"_ Patton asked them in a chipper voice.  
  
Too chipper.  
  
 _"You okay Pat?"_ Chelsea blurted out. Leave it to Chelsea to get directly to the point.   
  
_"Yup! Why wouldn't I be?"_ Patton answered. Virgil arched an eyebrow. And Patton got on _his_ case about not talking about what bothered him.   
  
_"You look as though you have not achieved a proper night's sleep in at least a week,"_ Logan observed.  
  
Patton's smile faltered. _"I...I've just got a lot going on right now. No big deal though! I'm sure once the wedding comes everything will be fine!"_  
  
Leave it to Patton to adopt an optimistic viewpoint in the face of...whatever it was that was going on.  
  
That said, Patton's statement focusing on the _wedding_ above all else was telling in itself. Did this have to do with the wedding?  
  
People's stares and comments be damned, Virgil needed to help his friend. "Patton, what's wrong?" he said through his phone.  
  
Patton looked at him with a bewildered expression. He glanced down at the phone within Virgil's hand, then back up at Virgil. He smiled in delight. _"Virgil, you just talked!"_  
  
Virgil gave a half smile in response. "I did. But this isn't about me. Something's bothering you."  
  
Patton's face fell once more, as he realized that his attempt at switching the subject to something happier was falling through. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for Virgil - he most certainly was - but it was clear that he hoped that the others would lose their focus on what was happening with _Patton_ if he shifted it to Virgil.  
  
No such luck. Virgil, Logan, and Chelsea weren't to be swayed that easily.  
  
 _"I'm just...I want everything with the wedding to go perfectly,"_ Patton admitted.   
  
_"Hey, that's perfectly understandable,"_ Chelsea assured him. _"But you still need to take care of yourself! When's the last time you had a good night's sleep?"_  
  
Patton frowned. _"I...it's been several days,"_ Patton admitted. _"I just keep worrying about all the things that could go wrong...and there's so much we need to do still, and I still have to go to work, and..its just a lot."_  
  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Virgil wondered.   
  
_"...maybe,"_ Patton considered. _"I just...I kinda wanted to surprise you with everything-"_  
  
 _"You can still surprise many people, but if this isn't something you and Roman can handle by yourselves, perhaps it's time to consider that you may need some additional help,"_ Logan pointed out.  
  
 _"And there's nothing wrong with that! A big wedding is a huge undertaking!"_ Chelsea hastily added.

Patton glanced back and forth between his friends. _"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you guys, I know you're all busy too..."_

__"This is your wedding, Pat!" Virgil told him.

_"We want everything to go well for you and Roman just as much as you and Roman do,"_ Logan asserted.  


Patton smiled - and this time, the smile _did_ reach his eyes. _"Thank you guys."_


	30. Chapter 30

Virgil left the Magical Menagerie with Logan and Chelsea. Virgil knew that he ought to feel reassured that Patton was accepting their help, and it certainly was a _start_...he couldn't seem to shake his concerns that easily. While well aware that he may be making a mountain out of a molehill, Virgil could not help but suspect that there was more to what was happening with Patton than met the eye. Stress could have profound effects on a person; this was something that Virgil knew all too well from experience. Sure, Patton was stressed about the wedding. This was understandable, it was a big life event that Patton and Roman were putting a lot of effort into.  
  
And maybe Virgil _was_ putting way too much thought into this. Maybe it _was_ just the wedding. Weddings were huge, after all, and it wasn't like Virgil had prior experience with a wedding to compare it to.  
  
Those bags under Patton's eyes, though...were those solely the result of stress over the wedding?  
  
Or was there something else at play?  
  
\-----------------------  
  
Roman absolutely _hated this_.   
  
Delilah treated him better than he thought she would. Half the time he was _ignored_. He supposed that he ought to be thankful, but...  
  
It made the time he was imprisoned pass that much _slower_.  
  
 _"Why haven't you done anything to me?"_ Roman asked one day.  
  
Delilah turned to him in confusion. _"Done anything to you? Like what?"_  
  
 _"Like...cast the Cruciatus Curse on me. Torment me. Watch me writhe in pain while you gloat over how you've gotten one over on me,"_ Roman replied.  
  
Delilah made a face. _"Who do you think I am? Remus?"_  
  
 _"Well surely you aren't keeping me here for no reason!"_ Roman snapped.  
  
Delilah let loose a few chuckles. _"Of course you're here for a reason. It's as Remus and I told you - The two of you have traded places. Granted, he's usually provided a lot more freedom than you are, but...we all know you'd go racing back to your old life in two seconds if you had the opportunity. I'm just looking out for a friend, making sure that he gets his due!"_  
  
Roman let out a snort. _"Riiiiiiiight. You're doing this solely for Remus. And you actually expect me to believe that?"_  
  
Delilah sighed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face. _"Nah. Don't get me wrong, this benefits Remus as well, but I wouldn't have recruited him if this did not benefit me as well."_  
  
 _"And how exactly does it benefit you?"_ Roman arched an eyebrow.  
  
Delilah let out a scoff. _"I should think that would be obvious? I'm trying to sabotage your wedding."_  
  
Roman gaped at her. _"And then you expect me to come crawling to you? Is that it?"_  
  
Delilah let out a bark of a laugh. _"What? No! I'm not foolish enough to believe such a thing!"_  
  
 _"You were a year ago,"_ Roman pointed out.  
  
 _"Yes, and that was a year ago,"_ Delilah retorted.   
  
_"Then why are you so obsessed with ruining my wedding?"_ Roman snarled.   
  
_"Your parents still blame you for your brother's death, you know,"_ the corners of Delilah's mouth turned upward into a smirk.  
  
 _"That's lovely. They're still the ones who cast the Killing Curse,"_ Roman asserted.  
  
 _"Yes, but they were under the impression that they were killing a Mudblood, not their oldest son,"_ Delilah reasoned.  
  
 _"Why are you even bringing this up?"_ Roman huffed. _"What do my parents have to do with...with..."_  
  
Delilah smiled. _"Got there at last, have you?"_  
  
 _"My parents put you up to this?!"_ Roman glared.  
  
 _"Well, they certainly weren't against the arrangement when I proposed it,"_ Delilah grinned. _"That said, they don't know about Remus' involvement...have to keep some cards up my sleeve, you know. But so long as the end result is no wedding, I'll get my reward."_  
  
 _"You're doing all of this for money?"_   
  
Delilah shook her head. _"Not money. You of all people should know that your parents are not mere nobodies within The Council. By helping to prune their family tree of any rot...well, let's just say that it will facilitate my own rise in the ranks."_  
  
So not money, _power_.  
  
He suspected that wasn't Remus' motivation, however.

 _"How do you know that Remus will go along with all of this?"_ Roman asked.  
  
 _"I don't, admittedly. But does he seem like the type to become best buds with your friends and allow them to live happily ever after?"_ Delilah arched an eyebrow. _"Does that really seem like his style?"_  
  
No. No it did not, and the fact that Remus had _free reign_ to torment Roman's friends unsettled him greatly. Who knew what he'd try to do?  
  
What he might have already done?  
  
 _"I do hope that Patton enjoyed his bracelet,"_ Delilah commented in an offhanded tone.  
  
 _"His bracelet?"_ Roman furrowed his brow.  
  
 _"I made Remus a bracelet to give to your fiance,"_ she informed him.   
  
_"Why would you do that?"_   
  
Delilah let out a snicker. _"Because I'm not stupid? You said it yourself - Your friends would know you were missing for an awful long period of time. So I fashioned a bracelet for Remus to offer him. Tada! Explanation for your absence."_  
  
...Delilah really _did_ have this whole thing thought out, didn't she?  
  
 _"I can only hope that Remus made the best of that bracelet,"_ Delilah said with a sigh.  
  
 _"And just what is that supposed to mean, Draca?"_ Roman narrowed his eyes.  
  
Delilah blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard by Roman's usage of her last name rather than her first. But she quickly regained her composure, much to Roman's chagrin.  
  
 _"Oh, just that Remus told me he had plans for that bracelet, plans further than just using it as an alibi like I originally intended,"_ Delilah informed him, offering him a sickeningly sweet smile.  
  
 _"And just what is that supposed to mean?"_ Roman roared, but hidden behind his anger was a note of panic.  
  
 _"I don't know. He didn't tell me. But something tells me that your dearest fiance probably isn't having a great time of it right now, if I know Remus..."_ she giggled.  
  
Roman never felt more helpless in his life.


	31. Chapter 31

Virgil, Logan, Chelsea, Paige, Elliott, Dee, and Shane agreed to meet Roman and Patton at their flat. Era and Astrit were still in Albania with their father and Astrit's mother, and would be there until shortly before the wedding, but Chelsea offered to set them up on video chat so that they could still attend the meeting. They couldn't do much to help, but they could at least offer their support.  
  
Virgil, Logan, and Dee were, somewhat unsurprisingly given Logan's penchant toward punctuality, the first two to arrive.  
  
Patton greeted them by throwing his arms around Virgil, then doing the same to Logan, then finally to Dee. _"I'm so glad you guys could make it! Thank you so much for offering to help out...it means a lot."_  
  
Roman entered the room. _"I see the first of our knights in shining armor have arrived?"_  
  
 _"If that is what you wish to call us, yes,"_ Logan replied.  
  
 _"Come in and have a seat!"_ Patton called out. _"I'm working on getting snacks ready!"_ There was a knock at the door. _"Roman, honey, can you get that?"_ Patton shouted from the kitchen.  
  
 _"On it!"_ Roman replied, heading for the door.  
  
Virgil and Logan exchanged worried glances.  
  
 _"Were we not supposed to be helping them feel less stressed?"_ Dee arched an eyebrow.  
  
 _"We are,"_ Logan confirmed. _"This was not part of the initial plan-"_  
  
 _"Got it!"_ Patton announced, carrying out several plates of hors d'oeuvres delicately balanced in such a way that Virgil immediately moved to the edge of his seat so that he was ready to jump into action in the event that one (or more) of the plates fell.  
  
 _"Patton, what are you doing?"_ Logan frowned.   
  
Patton furrowed his brow as he tried to adjust his posture in a way that would allow him to set the plates down without spilling anything. _"What does it look like I'm doing?"_ he said with a forced smile. _"I'm setting out snacks!"_  
  
Virgil couldn't stand to watch any longer. He rose to his feet, carefully retrieving a couple of plates from Patton and placing them on the coffee table.   
  
Patton let out an audible sigh of relief. The load that he had now was far more manageable and he placed the rest of the items on the table with little issue. He clapped his hands together. _"There we go! Eat up!"_  
  
Now that the threat of imminent spillage was out of the way, Virgil could take a closer look at Patton - and he was horrified by what he saw.  
  
Patton looked _worse_. The bags under his eyes were ever present, and his skin was pale.  
  
 _"Patton, what are you doing?"_ Logan repeated.  
  
 _"I just told you, I'm setting out snacks..."_ Patton frowned, and Virgil couldn't tell if Patton was deliberately avoiding the question or was legitimately confused about what Logan was asking.  
  
Given his clearly fatigued state, it could be either.  
  
 _"The agreement was that we came to visit to help you alleviate some of your duties, not add to them,"_ Logan frowned.  
  
Patton waved his hand. _"It's fine! This wasn't a problem at all!"_  
  
 _"That's believable,"_ Dee remarked with a snort.

"You didn't have to do this, Pat," Virgil told him through his phone.  
  
Patton chewed on his bottom lip, dejected. _"I just wanted to do something nice for you guys...but I can put the snacks back if you don't want any..."_  
  
This wasn't going the way that any of them expected.  
  
 _"It is not that we do not appreciate your efforts, we're just...concerned,"_ Logan told him quietly.   
  
_"There's no need to be concerned, though! I'm happy to cook for you guys!"_ Patton assured them. _"Besides, these are some of the hor d'oeuvres that we're thinking about serving at the wedding! You can help us by trying them! We can make more of the ones that are a hit and cut out the ones that aren't so good."_  
  
Virgil searched Patton's face. It didn't seem as though Patton was _lying_ , necessarily. It sounded as though Patton really _was_ excited for them to try the snacks.  
  
But in light of everything else...Virgil still worried. Patton needed to take it easy before he worked himself to a state of exhaustion.  
  
Virgil sat up his seat as an idea struck him. Patton prepared these snacks for them.  
  
What was to say that they couldn't prepare something for _Patton and Roman_? "I have an idea, Pat," Virgil announced through his phone.   
  
Patton turned to look at him in surprise. _"An idea?"_  
  
Virgil nodded. "We'll test these hor d'oeuvres for you guys under one condition."  
  
Patton looked wary. _"What's the condition?"_  
  
Virgil smiled. "You allow us to cook dinner for you and Roman."

Patton blinked, clearly taken aback by the proposal. _"I...no, you don't have to do that..."_  
  
 _"Just as you did not have to make these snacks for us,"_ Logan pointed out. _"We offered to assist you, this is merely us keeping up our end of the bargain, is it not?"_  
  
Patton took a deep breath, glancing toward the kitchen.  
  
 _"What, are you worried we'll set the place on fire?"_ Dee blurted out. _"I mean, you don't have to worry about that with me, but if you've seen Virgil cook-"_  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes and threw a throw pillow at Dee.  
  
 _"I assure you that none of us will burn your kitchen down,"_ Logan noted. _"Nor is Virgil a terrible cook, Dee is just an asshole."_  
  
Dee let out a gasp, accompanied by one of the most _blatantly_ fake offended expressions he'd ever seen.

But Dee's antics had their intended effect. Patton began to giggle, and as he did so, the slightest bit of tension seemed to roll off his shoulder. They still had a long way to go, but that giggle was like music to Virgil's ears.

At that moment, the muffled voices that were present in the other room grew louder. Roman stepped into the living room, accompanied by Chelsea and Paige, and not far behind them were Elliott and Shane.  
  
 _"Let's plan a wedding,"_ Elliott said with a grin.


	32. Chapter 32

Virgil had to hand it to Patton - the hors d'oeuvres were _good_.   
  
Though Elliott may have announced that they would set directly to work on planning for the wedding, it didn't actually pan out that way. There were too many people present who hadn't seen each other in a long time, and thus there was a lot of catching up to do.  
  
For one, Elliott announced with a grin that they and Shane recently began a QPR.   
  
Chelsea announced to those who didn't know that Era and Astrit _would_ be joining them via video call.  
  
When the subject switched to cell phones, Virgil knew that it was time to reveal his own news. Chelsea, Patton, Dee, and Logan already knew, of course, but that didn't mean that he couldn't catch a few people off guard.  
  
"Hey Paige, how have you been?" he asked the former Hufflepuff.  
  
Paige shrugged. _"I've been doing well enough. Interning at the Min..."_ she trailed off as her eyes widened. _"Whoa, hold the phone."_  
  
 _"I would but Chelsea's already holding it!"_ Patton said with a grin at his own cheesy joke. The longer he spent with his friends the more he loosened up, which Virgil was glad to see.  
  
 _"You can talk! Since when?"_ Elliott stared.  
  
"Since Logan bought me a mobile phone," Virgil admitted.  
  
 _"Holy crap, that's genius. You're a genius Logan!"_ Shane gasped.  
  
Logan shrugged, trying not to draw attention to the pink blush creeping onto his cheeks. _"The opportunity presented itself."_  
  
Even as those in person finished catching up with one another, once Chelsea called Era and Astrit it started all over again.  
  
 _"It's really too bad that you couldn't make it. Patton's cooking is absolutely amazing,"_ Roman informed them.  
  
 _"Oh Roman, don't tease them too much!"_ Patton snickered. _"You'll get to try most of them at the wedding! These guys just get the sneak peek!"_  
  
 _"Taste, technically,"_ Logan amended.  
  
 _"Yeah, you guys can still peek at least!"_ Paige announced, holding up her plate so that Era and Astrit could see what she had there.  
  
 _"That looks amazing!"_ Astrit eyed the contents of said plate hungrily.   
  
_"It ish amazing,"_ Shane responded, mouth still full of food.  
  
 _"Classy,"_ Dee observed.  
  
 _"Delicious,"_ Shane corrected after he swallowed.  
  
 _"They're okay,"_ Dee said with a shrug as he grabbed a third helping.

The group did eventually get around to discussing the task that united them in the first place. Eventually they compiled a list of tasks that still needed to be done - tasks that could feasibly be accomplished with the help of others, as there were, of course, certain tasks that only the two grooms could handle themselves.  
  
Even Era and Astrit got in on the action, volunteering to pick up a few items while they were in Albania that could be easily transported by the two when they returned to the UK.  
  
Virgil, Logan, and Dee volunteered to handle invitations - both making them _and_ sending them out via owl.  
  
Virgil could understand why Patton and Roman were stressed out upon glimpsing their to-do list, but once they sorted through the list and divided different jobs up? The list seemed a lot easier to tackle.

Once that was done, all that was left was cooking dinner for Roman and Patton. That was an event in itself, with not only Virgil, Logan, and Dee chipping in, but Elliott, Shane, Chelsea, and Paige as well.  
  
And they went all out.  
  
Elliott and Shane focused on keeping Roman and Patton distracted.   
  
Chelsea, Paige, and Dee worked on the decorations. With this many people working on the dinner, they could afford to put in the extra effort to make this fancy. Instead of a casual dinner, they opted to turn this into a romantic candlelight dinner for the duo.  
  
After all, when was the last time that Patton and Roman _really_ treated themselves?  
  
Virgil and Logan tackled cooking. Virgil was by no means a terrible cook (as Dee claimed), but he was no expert either. Virgil immediately noticed that Logan had more confidence in the kitchen, and decided to follow his lead.  
  
All in all, the two made a decent duo. They cooked a roast with a side of mashed potatoes and broccoli. Logan focused on the roast, while Virgil mashed the potatoes and steamed the broccoli.   
  
It was a lot of work on the part of everyone involved, but it was all worth it to see Patton and Roman's eyes widen in surprise when they realized just how far their friends went with the idea.  
  
And to see Patton smiling the most he'd seen Patton smile since...  
  
Since their trip to London.  
  
Virgil furrowed his brow, realizing that he'd never thought to make the connection before.  
  
It all started with their trip to London. Did this even have to do with the wedding? Or was the wedding secondary to something else?

The problem was, Virgil had no idea what that 'something else' would be, and it felt like pulling teeth trying to get Patton to admit that he and Roman needed help with the wedding.   
  
For someone who encouraged _others_ to open up on multiple occasions, Patton still had an issue with doing so himself.  
  
At least Patton was doing better at the moment. Patton was on cloud nine, enjoying a lovely candlelight dinner with Roman, and Virgil didn't want to be the one to yank him back down to Earth abruptly.  
  
Especially if he was _wrong_ and ended up making things worse in his attempt to make things better. _Yep, that sounds like something I'd do,_ Virgil thought wryly to himself.  
  
 _"I'm going to set to work on washing the pots and pans we used to cook dinner. Would you like to assist?"_ Logan asked him.  
  
Virgil cast one last glance toward the dining room, then shook his head and went to follow Logan back into the kitchen.  
  
What was he going to do, stride up to Patton and Roman's table in the middle of dinner and demand Patton tell him everything?  
  
Yeah, _that_ would go over well.


	33. Chapter 33

After Patton and Roman's dinner, things began to wind down. Various conversations picked up around the room. Chelsea, Dee, Elliott, and Shane chatted while they picked up the decorations and cleaned off the table, while Virgil and Logan set to work on the remainder of the dishes. It helped, though, that they'd already done the pots and pans while Roman and Patton were eating.  
  
Patton and Paige were also catching up with one another. Paige explained in greater detail how she was now in her second year as an intern at the Ministry, and that she could possibly get Patton a job in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.  
  
Patton was hesitant. _"I love magical creatures, but regulation and control..."_ he frowned. Virgil understood where Patton was coming from. Both regulation and control sounded impersonal. Patton didn't want to make rules and regulations regarding magical creatures, he wanted to help magical creatures directly.  
  
But the offer _would_ mean that he would make more money, which would alleviate potential financial woes, and thus eliminate stress...  
  
Virgil carried Patton and Roman's plates to the sink, setting them down on the counter beside Logan. Virgil and Logan had a system going - Logan would wash and scrub the dishes, and Virgil would dry them off. But as he went to the other side of the sink, Roman stopped him.  
  
 _"Hey Virge, can I talk to you for a moment?"_ he asked.  
  
Virgil frowned and looked back at Logan. Logan had a bemused expression on his face. _"There is no need to hesitate on my behalf. I can manage the rest of the dishes on my own. We already completed the most difficult portion,"_ he assured Virgil, gesturing to the pots and pans that they used to cook the meal.  
  
Virgil nodded. Roman motioned for him to step into another room, casting a furtive glance at Patton as he did so. Patton was still engaged in a conversation with Paige.  
  
So whatever Roman wanted to discuss, it had something to do with Patton.   
  
Once they were safely in the other room, Virgil turned to Roman expectantly.  
  
Roman let out a sigh, rubbing at the back of his neck. _"I'm worried about Patton, and I know the rest of you are as well."_  
  
So far, Roman was only stating the obvious. That said, Roman was around Patton a lot more than the others were, which meant that he might have noticed things that the others did not.  
  
 _"I don't know what's going on, I'm honestly worried for him,"_ Roman admitted.  
  
"Is something else wrong or is it just the wedding?" Virgil said through his phone, making sure to turn the volume down so that none of the others would overhear. Roman was whispering, after all, which had to mean that he did not want to be overheard. Turning his phone down was the closest that Virgil could _get_ to whispering.  
  
 _"I don't know!"_ Roman blurted out in exasperation, voice raised to a higher volume than it was before (though still not at full volume). _"He won't talk to me about what's going on, but I know something's wrong."_  
  
Boy did _that_ sound familiar. "He's not getting enough rest," Virgil observed.  
  
 _"I know, but...I don't think it's for lack of trying?"_ Roman confessed.

"What do you mean?" Virgil wanted clarification.  
  
 _"I mean...I think he's having nightmares, but any time I try to ask him what's going on he blows me off! It's just... I apologize, Virgil, I shouldn't be talking to you about any of this..."_ Roman let out a sigh.  
  
"No, it's good to know," Virgil assured him. "I figured it was more than just the wedding."  
  
 _"What if it is the wedding though?"_ Roman asked in a small voice. _"What if this is all because he's having second thoughts about the wedding? About us?"_  
  
Virgil's eyes went wide. He didn't think it was anything like _that_ , but...he could hardly blame Roman for jumping to the worst case scenario when he'd probably do the same in Roman's shoes.  
  
 _"That said, I do think that what you all have done for us today...you all have my deepest gratitude. I admit that we've been having a hard time of it as of late, but...I think things may be looking up,"_ Roman said with a smile.  
  
Virgil smiled back. He sure hoped so. Patton and Roman's wedding day was supposed to be one of the best days of their lives, yet the buildup to it was a _lot_ more stressful than Virgil anticipated. There was a lot more to a wedding than Virgil originally thought.  
  
When and if Virgil and Logan married, Virgil hoped it would be a smaller, more intimate ceremony. But a big and grand wedding? He wouldn't expect anything else from Patton and Roman.  
  
...he just didn't want the effort to pull the event together to suck the life out of them before the event even occurred.

"Keep us updated?" Virgil requested.  
  
Roman nodded and removed a mobile phone from his pocket. _"Let's trade numbers."_  
  
Virgil blinked in surprise. "You have a mobile phone?"  
  
Roman chuckled. _"I lived with Patton's family after Victoria and Edward kicked me out. Of course I have a mobile phone. You just had no reason to know about it as you did not have one yourself.""_  
  
That was a fair point.  
  
 _"Trade?"_ Roman held out his phone (which had a fancy red and gold colored case, because _of course_ Roman would go for the most fancy case he could find) for Virgil to take. _"You enter your number and I'll enter mine?"_  
  
Virgil nodded, exiting out of text to speech and handing his phone to Roman while taking Roman's phone from him. Fortunately he had enough experience with his own phone that he was able to navigate Roman's with relative ease. He added himself as a contact and put in his number, then handed the phone back to Roman.  
  
Virgil took his own phone back and slipped it into his pocket.  
  
The two made their way back into the main room. Virgil and Roman shared a fond smile as he saw Patton and Paige laughing heartily over something.  
  
Or at least that was why Virgil _thought_ Roman was smiling.  
  
In reality, _Remus_ was thrilled to learn more about his targets.  
  
Patton's mind was easier to read than Roman's. The man wore his heart on his sleeve, so it really was no surprise that his mind was an open book _full_ of the sort of information that helped him perfect his disguise.  
  
The others, however...  
  
Some of them were easier to read than others. Shane, Elliott, and Paige he had moderate success with. Era and Astrit weren't in the same room with him, which meant that, much to his chagrin, he couldn't use _any_ of his ability on them.  
  
Virgil, Logan, and Dee...they were _good_ at Occlumency, whether it be through practice, natural talent, or a mixture of both. This opportunity to get yo know them better was exactly what he was hoping for. He wanted to see how they ticked.  
  
Then he wanted to use that to send them all crumbling to the ground.  
  
It was hard to play the long game, and Remus was not known for being a patient man. But if everything went right...Merlin. the payoff would be _so_ worth it!

Patton was proof of that.


	34. Chapter 34

Virgil watched as Logan's owl flew off with a batch of invitations. They did not want to send their owls off with _too_ many invitations at once, as that would be hard on the owls. They already sent out Renilda and Professor Picani's owls with batches of their own, and those two were still on their routes as well.   
  
_"Five invitations each,"_ Logan remarked. _"I expect that they'll be back within a couple of hours. I'll get a few owl treats ready."_  
  
As Logan went to fetch the treats, Virgil heard the telltale thump of Storm jumping from wherever she'd previously been perched to follow Logan into the kitchen.  
  
Virgil already knew what was on her mind and shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching upward at the sight.  
  
_"Would you like me to feed Storm as well?"_ Logan asked, looking over at his boyfriend.  
  
Virgil shook his head. "I got it," he quickly said through text to speech, making a beeline for the cat food. He fetched a small bowl and set it out for Storm, who immediately dug in.  
  
_"What of Charlotte? Does she need any crickets?"_ Logan set three owl treats in a cup on the counter.  
  
Virgil shook his head. "I only need to feed her a couple of times a week and I gave her a cricket yesterday."  
  
Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was starting to feel a bit lightheaded, though he attributed that to getting the invitations ready. The invitations were mostly all _made_ at this point, but they still had a number to send.  
  
There was a lot more to this than Virgil originally thought, but he was glad that they were taking one more thing off of Roman and Patton's shoulders.  
  
_"What did you and Roman discuss?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
"Patton," Virgil admitted. "Roman's still worried about him."  
  
Logan's frown deepened upon hearing this. _"I suspected as much. If we've noticed something is wrong, surely Roman has noticed it tenfold. Is it not just the wedding, then?"_  
  
Virgil shrugged, chewing on his bottom lip and wishing he could give Logan more information. "Roman says he's having nightmares a lot."  
  
_"Hmmm, seems a bit strange that he would have frequent nightmares if said nightmares were only about the wedding,"_ Logan noted.  
  
Virgil nodded in agreement. "I wonder if they're about the ferris wheel," he admitted.  
  
_"The ferris wheel?"_ Logan arched an eyebrow.   
  
"It seems like all of this started when we went to London," Virgil explained.  
  
_"This is true...perhaps that theory may have some merit,"_ Logan stroked his chin. _"I imagine the whole debacle must have been a lot more disconcerting to someone who was experiencing it first hand, and I do know that Patton was particularly rattled upon seeing one of the injured taken away on a stretcher."_  
  
Virgil didn't know if they were any closer to any answers, but it did help having someone to discuss ideas with.   
  
Virgil rose from his seat, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as his vision began to gray at the sides.  
  
_"Virgil?"_ Logan frowned. _"Are you alright?"_  
  
Virgil nodded. "Y-Yeah, I..." he began out loud, then stopped himself as he recalled that Logan would not be able to understand him.  
  
He sunk back into his seat, massaging his forehead with his hand. But the dizziness wasn't going away.  
  
Logan stepped closer. _"That's peculiar, if it were orthostatic hypotension one would think that you would feel better upon sitting, but that does not appear to be the case?"_  
  
No, and now Logan's voice sounded far away. It felt like his head was in a cloud. It felt...  
  
Virgil's eyes widened, and he reached for his phone. He knew what was happening, but he couldn't outright _say_ it, and he wasn't certain that he was in the condition to type it. He supposed what he needed to say could be conveyed in one word, but he only got so far as typing 'pro' on his phone before the darkness claimed him.  
  
\-------------------  
  
The first thing that Virgil saw upon waking up was a yellow snake sticking its tongue out in Virgil's face.  
  
Virgil jolted backward, nearly falling out of his seat. He let out a yelp before he could stop himself.  
  
_"Oh good, you're back,"_ Dee commented with a slight smirk.  
  
Logan turned around, pen in his left hand and notebook in the other hand. This all but confirmed Virgil's suspicions.  
  
_"I trust that you are able to ascertain what just happened on your own and that we do not need to explain?"_ Logan inquired.  
  
Virgil nodded. He felt foolish for not having recognized the signs sooner.  
  
_"I apologize,"_ Logan told him. Both Virgil _and_ Dee looked to him in confusion.  
  
_"I should have recognized the signs that you were about to give a prophecy sooner. I have witnessed both you and Era in the act of giving prophecies several times, after all,"_ Logan elaborated.  
  
Dee let out a snort. _"And how long has it been since Virgil or Era's last prophecy?"_  
  
Virgil checked to make sure that his phone was still in his lap and had not fallen to the ground at any point while he 'lost consciousness'. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was safe. He let out a chuckle as he erased the word 'pro' from the program - he hardly needed to warn Logan that he was about to give a prophecy at this point - and instead typed his response to Dee. "It's been a while."  
  
That being said, this debate over who should have known about the prophecy ahead of time wasn't important. What _was_ important was figuring out what the prophecy said.  
  
...not that it mattered half the time, as they were often unable to discern what the prophecy was actually warning them about until it was far too late, but Virgil would take any bread crumb that he could get. "What did I say?"  
  
_"'If a man makes himself a worm, he must complain when he is trodden on,'"_ Dee recited.  
  
...what?  
  
_"Firstly, that is not what Virgil said. Secondly, was that Immanuel Kant?"_ Logan stared.  
  
Dee shrugged. _"What? Is there something wrong with my enjoying the works of Muggle philosophers?"_  
  
_"I suppose not,"_ Logan replied, though Virgil noted that Logan looked faintly impressed.  
  
He glanced down at his notebook and cleared his throat as he began to read. _"All is not as it appears. Soon the masks will be ripped from the ones who hide in the shadows, but alas, it may be too late. Irreparable damage may be done."_


	35. Chapter 35

Virgil had a hard time sleeping that night.  
  
Irreversible changes. Virgil didn't like the sound of that, especially when the prophecy also specified that it might be too late to _do_ anything.  
  
What was the point of hearing the prophecy ahead of time if they had no choice but to let it play out? To make them suffer?  
  
Virgil let out a sigh as he threw his covers off of him. He glanced over at Logan, who was sleeping soundly if his breathing was any indication. Virgil briefly considered waking his boyfriend up, but decided against it. There was no reason to prevent Logan from attaining the proper amount of sleep just because _Virgil_ kept thinking about the prophecy.   
  
Rather that stay in the room that he and Logan shared, Virgil decided to venture out into the living room. He opened the door, careful not to open it past the halfway open point, otherwise his door would squeal and he'd probably wake Logan up (possibly Dee too - it didn't seem that loud during the day, but _everything_ seemed louder at night when there weren't many other noises around.  
  
He successfully opened the door and slipped out quietly, delicately closing the door behind him. He had his phone in one hand and his other hand brushing agains the wall to help him navigate his way to the living room.  
  
Then he took a seat in one of the chairs and let out another sigh.  
  
_All is not as it appears,_ Virgil thought to himself, glancing at the note in his phone where he'd saved the wording of the prophecy.

That much was obvious; Virgil did not need a prophecy to tell him that something wasn't right. He supposed that it was nice to have something to _support_ those feelings, at least. That way he knew he wasn't just making a big deal out of nothing.  
  
...or maybe the prophecy meant that he should _not_ think along those lines, because there wasn't actually anything worrisome going on with Patton and Roman?  
  
That seemed silly, though. Why have a prophecy at all in that case?  
  
_Soon the masks will be ripped from those who hide in the shadows._  
  
Ripped from the ones who hide in the shadows? The ones? Plural? The Council? They certainly conducted most of their business in the shadows, so to speak.

Virgil froze when he heard movement. Wasn't everyone asleep? It was hard for his mind _not_ to jump to the worst possible scenario when he _just_ read a sentence that implied that danger lurked in the shadows.  
  
At that point, Storm trotted out from behind the couch, running up to Virgil and hopping up beside him on the couch.  
  
Oh, it was _Storm_. Virgil let out a sigh of relief and began to comb his hands through her black fur, letting out a few chuckles as he felt some of the tension melt away. Not all, but _some_ , and he'd take what he could get.  
  
Soon, he felt the telltale vibrations of Storm purring beneath his hands. He smiled fondly, then let out a sigh as he returned his attention to the prophecy.  
  
_But alas, it may be too late._  
  
And what were they supposed to do with _that_ information? If it was too late, they couldn't very well _do_ anything to stop it, and the prophecy was just there to taunt them.  
  
It was doing a good job of accomplishing that too, at least with Virgil.   
  
Then, Virgil made it to the most disconcerting part of the prophecy.  
  
_Irreparable damage may be done._  
  
Irreparable damage that they might already be unable to reverse? _How reassuring,_ Virgil thought sarcastically. He couldn't recall ever feel so frustrated about a prophecy in his life!  
  
...save for perhaps the one that only Dee overheard, but that was Dee being a butt about it, not the prophecy.  
  
_This_ prophecy, on the other hand, seemed to relish in the fact that it foretold something terrible and emphasized the fact that Virgil and his friends could do absolutely nothing about it.  
  
And the fact that the words came out of his own mouth weren't helping matters.

Storm, sensing his distress, let out a small meow and nuzzled against Virgil's hand. Once again, it helped, but...  
  
But it couldn't get rid of what Virgil felt entirely, and Virgil let out a shaky sigh.  
  
It didn't help when he heard movement once more. Even Storm moved to a more defensive position, her ears perked upward and her pupils widening.  
  
This time it wasn't one of the pets. He knew that Charlotte was safe in her cage, and neither the owls nor Samantha would make that much noise. That was a _person_ moving about.  
  
_There are four other people living in this flat, it's probably one of them,_ Virgil tried to reassure himself. _You're not in danger, dumbass._  
  
It didn't help. His heart continued to race.   
  
He shakily went to retrieve his wand from his pocket, only to discover that it wasn't there.  
  
Of course it wasn't, he was in his _pajamas_. Even he, as overly vigilant as he was, hadn't thought to bring his wand to the living room of his mother's flat. _And he probably didn't need it anyway, he was just letting his imagination run away with him..._  
  
But what if he wasn't? What if this was a threat, and he wasn't prepared for it? What if said threat not only went after him, but the rest of his family and friends? And Virgil didn't have his wand with him to protect _himself_ , let alone them.  
  
_Soon the masks will be ripped from those who hide in the shadows. But alas, it may be too late. Irreparable damage may be done._  
  
Was this what the prophecy was referring to?  
  
A figure crept into the room, stepping out from the shadows.  
  
_"Hellooooooooo nurse!"_ a familiar voice called out in a voice barely above a whisper, along with a snicker.  
  
Virgil knew that he ought to let out a sigh of relief, a chuckle. It was just Professor Picani. He was _safe_.  
  
But he couldn't seem to catch his breath.  
  
Professor Picani's smile fell at once. _"Virgil?"_


	36. Chapter 36

It took several moments and some assistance from Professor Picani, but Virgil was able to calm himself to a point where he felt as if he might be able to carry on a conversation with Professor Picani.  
  
"Sorry about that," Virgil typed into his phone. He made sure the volume was turned down low enough that he was less likely to wake the rest of the flat, then pressed play. He reached up to run a hand through his hair as he awaited Professor Picani's response. Though his conditioned had improved, he still faced residual effects from his panic attack, and his hand was still trembling slightly.  
  
_"No need to apologize!"_ Professor Picani assured him.  
  
"I didn't mean to wake anyone up," Virgil added. He'd tried his best not to make much noise, but clearly he had anyway.  
  
_"Oh, you didn't wake me up! Your mother and I take turns caring for your sister at night. Tonight's my night, and Renata was getting a bit fussy. So I rocked her to sleep and was just about to head back to our bedroom when I saw you in here and thought I'd say hello!"_ Professor Picani explained. _"In hindsight I probably should have chose a less energetic greeting at this time of night,"_ he furrowed his brow. _"That can't have helped your condition. I should be the one that's apologizing."_  
  
"Nah, it wasn't you," Virgil responded. Professor Picani's sudden appearance did startle him, but he was worked up long before that point. At the rate he was going, he probably would have slipped into a panic attack regardless of whether Professor Picani was there or not.  
  
And while Virgil might have felt less _embarrassed_ if no one witnessed the attack, he did have to admit that it felt nice to have someone to talk to.  
  
_"What was it then, if you don't mind me asking?"_ Professor Picani looked at him expectantly.  
  
Virgil really ought to have predicted that and been prepared for it ahead of time. Alas, he did not.  
  
How much did he want to tell Professor Picani? Probably not _everything_ , but...he didn't exactly have anything to hide when it came to the prophecy. Professor Picani was well aware of Virgil's Sight by this point, and he had no reason to _keep_ the contents of the prophecy from him. In fact, Professor Picani might be able to help?  
  
Virgil chewed on his bottom lip as he considered what he wanted to say next. "I made a prophecy," he began.  
  
He watched Professor Picani's reaction closely, hating himself for doing so because Professor Picani did _not_ deserve that sort of treatment. But as he confessed that he'd made a prophecy, his mind harkened back to Linus' interest in the prophecy and the prophecy alone. It didn't matter to him how Virgil felt afterward.   
  
Professor Picani was _nothing_ like that, and yet Virgil still felt as though he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Professor Picani to immediately zero in on the prophet's contents and not their effect on Virgil.  
  
Which he supposed would be understandable in it's own way. _Virgil_ usually wanted to know what he said as well. He could hardly blame others for displaying the same attitude.  
  
...but _damn_ he didn't ask for this ability, and he never felt 100% after giving them. The annoying pre-prophecy malaise and fog faded, only to be replaced by confusion and disorientation, often followed by frustration and anxiety at the prospect of trying to determine what the prophecy warned of.  
  
These prophecies never warned of rainbows and butterflies, after all.  
  
_"And this attack that you just experienced...I'm guessing it had something to do with the prophecy?"_ Professor Picani asked in an even tone. Virgil let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't unusual for him to feel anxious after giving a prophecy, but this was on another level.   
  
_"Does this happen often?"_ Professor Picani wondered.  
  
Virgil looked at him in confusion.  
  
_"Having an attack after giving a prophecy,"_ Professor Picani amended.  
  
Virgil shook his head.   
  
_"Is there something that makes this one different from the others?"_ Professor Picani inquired.  
  
Virgil nodded, showing Professor Picani the prophecy in question. Professor Picani was silent as he read, furrowing his brow. _"I see,"_ Professor Picani said with a contemplative frown. _"Forgive me, as I've only heard a couple of your prophecies, but can you explain to me what unsettled you about this prophecy in particular?"_  
  
Virgil let out a shaky sigh as he typed out his response then pressed play. "It may already be too late," he explained.  
  
Professor Picani nodded in acknowledgment. _"And it is not typical for a prophecy to imply that it may be too late to act."_  
  
"Exactly," Virgil replied.   
  
_"Can I state my take on the prophecy?"_ Professor Picani asked. Virgil nodded. As far as he was concerned, the more people examining the prophecy the better. What if he missed something that someone else caught?  
  
_"It does sound particularly foreboding, I will admit that,"_ Professor Picani noted. Virgil let out a snort at that. _"But...I don't think that it is necessarily too late to change your fate."_ There was a pause as Professor Picani let out a chuckle. _"Look at me, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!"_  
  
The corners of Virgil's mouth twitched upward in spite of everything.   
  
_"But seriously, I think it's important to pay attention to the words used in the prophecy,"_ Professor Picani continued.  
  
Virgil arched an eyebrow, skeptical. What did Professor Picani _think_ he'd spent the last couple of hours obsessing over.  
  
_"You said you feel as if it is too late to act, correct?"_ Professor Picani wondered.  
  
Virgil nodded.  
  
_"I don't believe that it is,"_ Professor Picani said at last.  
  
Virgil let out a scoff. He wasn't looking for wishful thinking.  
  
_"It's true! Look at the words of the prophecy again!"_ Professor Picani motioned to Virgil's phone. Virgil scanned the words, still uncertain as to what Professor Picani was getting at.  
  
_"May,"_ Professor Picani said with a smile.  
  
"May?" Virgil asked through his phone.  
  
_"May. It may be too late. The damage may be irreparable. It is easy to confuse 'may' with 'is' in this instance, but that is not how I see it at all. Prophecies do not speak of events that have already come to pass, or else they would not be prophecies!"_ Professor Picani explained.  
  
Virgil's eyes went wide. Professor Picani was right. He was so wrapped up in the particulars of the prophecy that he neglected to notice that perhaps things weren't as hopeless as he first thought.  
  
_May_ , not _is_.  
  
It didn't alleviate Virgil's concerns entirely. It was as if he had two massive weights on his chest. Professor Picani may have only removed one, but it was _considerably_ easier to breathe nevertheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats to Golden_Girl_Six for making the same point that Professor Picani made a couple of chapters ago. Great minds think alike? =P


	37. Chapter 37

_May_ , not _is_.  
  
The subtle difference was important, but only if they determined what the prophecy meant before it was too late.  
  
That meant that while it was marginally easier for Virgil to fall asleep after his conversation with Professor Picani (and he eventually _did_ get to sleep, thankfully), he went back to his contemplation soon after research the next morning.  
  
Who might be hiding in the shadows? Why did it always have to be a mystey?

The prophecy hinted that whoever or whatever was behind those masks would be revealed in due time, but Virgil suspected that by that point it _would_ be too late.  
  
The Council? _Dalibor?_ They hadn't heard from the latter in a while. Perhaps this had to do with the ferris wheel incident? They still weren't certain who was responsible for that, after all.  
  
Were they planning something worse? Something that would have greater shockwaves than the ferris wheel?

Virgil carried these thoughts with him to work at Flourish and Blotts. He would have preferred to leave them at the door, to focus on his work and then go back to trying to determine what the prophecy was saying after he clocked out, but that was a lot easier said than done. He was half tempted to grab the books that he was shelving off of the shelves and flip through them to see if they could help him generate any ideas.

 _"You seem distracted today,"_ Madam Legere noted. Of _course_ he had to work the day after giving a prophecy. Of _course_ Madam Legere would notice that something was off. Now he was probably going to get into trouble...  
  
Virgil didn't exactly do much to argue in defense of himself and simply gave a shrug.  
  
 _"Does this have to do with the complaint that you recieved?"_ Madam Legere pressed on.  
  
Virgil's stomach lurched. While that certainly weighed on his mind in the past, he'd since dwelt upon more pressing matters. That said, Madam Legere's words brought Virgil's recollections of the man's complaints about him to the forefront of his mind once more.  
  
...that said, while the complaint _wasn't_ actually the reason for his current mental state, this was an opportunity to address that issue. And honestly, it would be a lot easier to just agree with Madam Legere that that was the reason she was upset, as opposed to having to explain the _true_ reason.  
  
He had absolutely no intent to reveal that he was a Seer, after all.   
  
Virgil settled on another shrug. Let her assume it was that, it was better than the alternative.

Or so he thought.

Madam Legere let out a sigh. _"What that man said about you wasn't right, and I told him as much. That being said...that was not the first complaint that I have received,"_ Madam Legere admitted.  
  
...that did not make him feel better in the least. He wasn't _surprised_ , just...dejected. He also didn't understand why Madam Legere was telling him this. It made him feel _worse_ rather than better.  
  
 _"I understand that you use your device to communicate. I find it rather ingenious myself,"_ Madam Legere smiled. Virgil would have been reassured, but...something felt _off_ about the woman's tone. Something that told him that there was more to come.  
  
He was right.  
  
 _"That said, I was wondering if you might be able to temper your usage of it in front of customers? I think it may cut down on the number of complaints we receive going forward-"_ Madam Legere requested.  
  
He could scarcely concentrate on what was being said after this. His ears were ringing. He found himself nodding, _agreeing_ to Madam Legere's request. Madam Legere smiled and wished him a good day.  
  
Virgil resumed his shelf-stocking, his entire body quaking.  
  
At first it was shock and confusion, but then another emotion crept in, overtaking the initial shock and demanding that he _take_ action rather than just stand there and take this unfair treatment.  
  
 _Outrage._  
  
Virgil didn't want to do anything too rash, but the anger continued to bubble beneath the surface, threatening to boil over.  
  
How dare she. _How dare she._  
  
How dare she acknowledge that the way they treated him wasn't right, yet _still_ request that he cut down on his usage of a device that genuinely helped him, all because it made _them_ uncomfortable.   
  
_How dare she!_ If he didn't need this job...  
  
... _did_ he need this job?  
  
It felt nice _having_ a job, and he liked that he was able to pay for some of his own expenses rather than expect his mother to pay for all of them, but he was only nineteen. It wasn't as though he intended to spend the rest of his life at Flourish and Blotts. In fact, Madam Legere expressly noted that she could only bring them on for the summer.  
  
The summer that was already halfway over.  
  
Virgil set the book that he was about to shelve back down, marching to the front of the store. He walked past Logan, whose eyes widened slightly as he placed his own book on the shelf. _"You finished your shelving already?"_  
  
Virgil shook his head. Logan opened his mouth to ask for more information, but Virgil already resumed his trek to Madam Legere, a determined expression on his face.

He didn't want to risk losing his nerve before he did what he knew that he needed to do.

Madam Legere was working on a display near the front of the store. Virgil strode up to her and cleared his throat.

Madam Legere glanced up, surprise on her face as she saw that it was Virgil and not a customer looking for assistance. _"Virgil? Have you already completed your shelves? If you're looking for something to do until the end of your shift you can work on the displays near the counter-"_

Virgil shook his head. He'd already typed what he needed to into his phone. Now he just needed to press play.

"I quit." And with that, he turned and walked right out the door.


	38. Chapter 38

Virgil didn't think that he made the wrong choice. He did something that he absolutely _needed_ to do. He didn't deserve that sort of treatment!  
  
...so why did part of him want to run back to Flourish and Blotts and beg for his job back?  
  
He had no plan to act on these thoughts, yet he wondered what he would _do_. Would he ever be able to obtain another job? If he applied for another job, would they speak to Madam Legere as a prior employer, and if so, would Madam Legere tell them not to hire him? Did he just ruin his chances of getting a job _ever again_?  
  
Did it matter, if they were going to treat him like his needs were secondary to the _wants_ of customers?  
  
He wanted to say it didn't, but...the thought of never, _ever_ having a job again bothered him.

When Virgil walked through the front door of his mother's flat, Renilda looked up from the book that she was reading in surprise. _"Virgil? I thought you and Logan were supposed to be at work for another couple of hours?"_  
  
Virgil cursed mentally. It wasn't that he was upset to see his mother, he just _forgot_ that his mother had the day off work and thus would be home. And of course she had questions, why wouldn't she?  
  
The problem was, Virgil didn't really want to talk about what was happening, not while his own emotions still churned inside of him like a tempest. He didn't know what he might say or do if questioned by his mother in this state, and quite frankly he didn't _want_ to know. He offered his mother a shrug in response to her question, knowing that it would not be enough to date her curiosity, but trying to delay the inevitable.  
  
Renilda furrowed her brow. Virgil _knew_ that she saw right through him. He could see it in her face. _"Would you like to talk about what happened or would you like some time to collect your thoughts?"_ she asked after a moment.  
  
Virgil blinked in surprise. Renilda was offering him a choice rather than badgering him for details? Virgil slowly removed his phone from his pocket and readied his response. "I'm going to my room."  
  
Renilda nodded. _"I figured as much. Take as much time as you need. But if you do decide that you need to talk, I'll be right here,"_ she told him with a warm smile.  
  
Virgil responded to his mother with a half smile and a nod. He didn't plan on taking his mother up on her offer - not for a while at least - but it was nice to know that the offer was there.  
  
He took the time alone in his room to sort through his thoughts, but remained uncertain as to whether this was actually _helping_ him. Virgil let out a sigh, hugging one of his pillows close to him. He glanced up in surprise when he heard the door to his room open. He figured that it was either Renilda checking up on him or Deceit coming in to pester him.  
  
He didn't expect _Logan_.   
  
"You still have a couple of hours left of your shift," Virgil noted, echoing his mother's sentiment from earlier.  
  
Logan shook his head. _"I do not. My shift is complete."_  
  
"Madam Legere let you leave early?" Virgil asked. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he heard the text to speech app's woeful attempt at pronouncing his former boss' name correctly.  
  
Logan could not help but smile faintly as well. As he turned his full attention back to Virgil, however, his face grew serious once more. _"It was not Madam Legere's choice, it was mine."_  
  
Virgil blinked, his eyes slowly going wide.  
  
 _"Though I remain uncertain of the events that transpired between yourself and Madam Legere, I know that you would not quit your job without good reason to do so. If you have good reason, I have good reason to as well,"_ Logan announced.  
  
"You quit?" Virgil gaped.  
  
 _"As of,"_ Logan glanced at his watch, _"18 minutes and 37 second ago, yes."_  
  
Virgil didn't know what to say to that. He was _flattered_ , but at the same time... "You didn't have to do that."  
  
 _"Correct,"_ Logan confirmed. _"I did not have to quit in solidarity. I chose to do so."_  
  
...fair point.  
  
 _"What transpired between yourself and Madam Legere that brought you to that point, out of curiosity?"_ Logan wondered.  
  
Virgil explained, as difficult as it was to do so. Logan's face grew increasingly stony as he learned each new detail of what occured. When Virgil finished his explanation, Logan let out a huff. _"I am disappointed. I believed Madam Legere was better than that."_  
  
Virgil let out a shaky sigh.   
  
_"You are still upset?"_ Logan asked him.  
  
Virgil let out a snort. "I quit the only job I've ever had, and I still have no idea what I want to do with my life," Virgil said through his phone. "I have no idea what to do next."  
  
 _"If I may offer a suggestion?"_ Logan remarked.  
  
Virgil shrugged, motioning for Logan to go ahead. There was nothing stopping Logan from offering a suggestion, but Virgil couldn't see what Logan might suggest that might actually be helpful.  
  
 _"I was going to announce this after our shifts, but as our shifts have ended prematurely, I suppose that now is as good of a time as any to make the announcement,"_ Logan stated.  
  
 _"I have recently obtained a job interview. I was going to ask if you wished to accompany me regardless, but now that we are no longer employed by Flourish and Blotts..."_ Logan began.  
  
Virgil let out a snicker. "I don't think it'll be the most romantic date, but sure, I'll go to your job interview with you," he teased.  
  
It would have been better if Virgil could convey a teasing tone through his phone, but the smile gave it away well enough.


	39. Chapter 39

There were a number of details omitted from Logan's invitation.  
  
Firstly, Logan neglected to mention where his interview was to take place.  
  
Secondly, Logan invited Virgil to accompany him not for moral support, but rather with the idea that _Virgil_ ought to sit for an interview as well.  
  
Then again, Virgil didn't _ask_ for these details either. Thus Logan did not bear _all_ of the blame.

Still, a bit of advanced notice would be nice. He wasn't even in dress robes, and he told Logan as much.  
  
 _"Did you wear dress robes to your interview with Flourish and Blotts?"_ Logan arched a brow.  
  
Virgil shook his head. "No, but that's different. That was a summer job." This was something bigger. Granted, he wasn't applying for a job at the Ministry, but this job still required NEWTs, which made it feel more like a _real_ job.  
  
...whatever that meant. He knew that he shouldn't think of jobs as 'real jobs' and...well, not. He knew that all jobs were perfectly valid, but it was all too easy to self-deprecate and reason that he wasn't even contacted for an interview by any of the other places he applied for, so he _must_ not be suited for a _real_ job, only a temporary job at the place he'd worked at during the summers between Hogwarts...  
  
He really needed to stop that. Too bad it was easier said than done.  
  
He hadn't even thought to apply here. All of Virgil's applications were directed toward jobs that focused on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Defense Against the Dark Arts was not the _only_ O that he received, however, as Logan was so eager to remind him.  
  
Which brought them to the Stella Stockett Wizarding Planetarium.  
  
Virgil tried not to let his imagination get too carried away. Yes, he would concede that he would not mind working here. He'd probably even enjoy it. But what were the chances, really? Not only did he get super nervous during interviews, but the moment he pulled his phone from his pocket, they'd realize it wasn't _worth_ hiring someone like him. It would be too much of a headache.

So why get his hopes up?  
  
Logan, on the other hand, was _perfect_ for a position. Virgil thus tried to focus most of his energy on cheering Logan on. Logan entered the interview room looking confident, but Virgil could not help but notice how nervous he looked the moment he walked out of the room. He kept playing with his tie in a telltale fashion, and Virgil wasn't sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of the fact that _Logan Dicax_ of all people was worried, or feel relieved that he wasn't the only one who felt that way.  
  
Then it was his turn.  
  
It could have gone worse? It probably could have gone better, though. He might have laughed a bit too hard at the interview's jokes. He didn't answer a couple of the questions right away. Lastly, he used his phone to communicate, which would probably be the nail in the coffin if nothing else was.   
  
Virgil and Logan sat in relative silence as they awaited the results of their interview. Virgil wasn't sure if talking to Logan would make him feel better or worse, and thus he remained mum. He could only assume that Logan felt similarly.  
  
 _"Logan Dicax?"_ a woman peeked her head out of the door. Logan froze, then slowly rose to his feet. Virgil smiled and waved as Logan followed her back into the room.  
  
It was as Virgil expected. He was certain that Logan was being offered a job at the planetarium, and he was _thrilled_ for Logan. Logan deserved it. Yet as he sat in the hallway daydreaming of his boyfriend receiving the job offer for one of his dream jobs, Virgil could not help but feel disappointed.  
  
Virgil hated that he felt the way that he did. He should be nothing but happy for his boyfriend! He already _told_ himself numerous times that he would not get the job, so why was he upset? Why did he allow even the minutest amount of himself to hope that maybe he actually had a chance at this? _Why couldn't he just be happy for Logan without wallowing in his own misery? What kind of supportive boyfriend did that?_  
  
 _"Virgil Thompson?"_ a man's voice cut through his thoughts. Virgil glanced up in surprise. A man around the same age as Professor Picani stood over him. _"Would you follow me?"_

Virgil rose to his feet, feeling oddly detached from the world around him. He followed the man into another office shortly down the hall, awaiting the inevitable. _We're sorry, but we don't think that you will be a good fit for Stella Stockett Wizarding Planetarium at this time._  
  
 _"We do not feel that you are a good fit for the position that you have interviewed for at this time,"_ the man informed him. Not _quite_ the same as Virgil imagined, but close enough. Virgil nodded, trying not to show _too_ much disappointment - this was exactly how he _thought_ it would go, after all - but he wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible, lest his resolve break entirely.  
  
 _"That said, we would like to offer you another position we have an opening for,"_ the man continued.   
  
Virgil was certain that he must have heard wrong. "Hmmm?"   
  
_"A full time research position has opened, and we wondered if you might be interested in filling said position,"_ the man clarified. So no, Virgil had not heard wrong. The man was actually offering him a position. Offering _him_ a position.   
  
Virgil retrieved his phone at once, shaking hands hovering over his screen as he typed his response as quickly and accurately as he could. "When would I start?"  
  
When Virgil and Logan met up in the lobby again after their respective conversations, they glanced at one another expectantly. Virgil could not keep the smile from his face, nor could Logan. Virgil's smile widened as the full brunt of the situation hit him at once - Both he and Logan were official employees of Stella Stockett Wizarding Planetarium.  
  
 _They had done it._


	40. Chapter 40

Contrary to their earlier jobs at Flourish and Blotts, Virgil and Logan would not begin their job at Stella Stockett's Wizarding Planetarium right away. Both Logan and Virgil were employed by Flourish and Blotts in the past, which meant that they needed little additional training when they resumed their jobs earlier in the summer.   
  
Virgil and Logan's jobs at Stella Stockett were more specialized. Logan mentioned his interest in an eventual professorship at Hogwarts during his interview, thus he was given a position that combined research as well as presenting to groups who would come in to view the planetarium screens. This would give him experience that he could use on his resume were he to apply for a job as an Astronomy Professor at Hogwarts in the future, or any other wizarding school for that matter.  
  
Virgil, on the other hand, would maintain a primarily research position. This suited Virgil well; he knew that he would do his best work sitting and/or standing in front of a telescope as opposed to what Logan was doing.  
  
They decided not to be _too_ open about their success, not wanting to rub it in for those who were not having such easy luck attaining more gainful employment.  
  
Dee had yet to obtain a job, though Virgil suspected that Dee wasn't trying particularly hard to _get_ one at this point. Not because he did not _want_ a job, but rather because the job _he_ desired required more education and/or research than what he'd had access to at Hogwarts.  
  
Or at least that was the conclusion that Virgil and Logan jumped to upon discovering a number of Wizarding _and_ Muggle law books alike on Dee's bookshelves one day. It was a well kept secret between the two of them, however; even Dee didn't realize what they'd uncovered, nor did Virgil and Logan want him to find out. He could tell the others when he was ready.  
  
 _"I do think that he would make a fine lawyer, though,"_ Logan admitted to Virgil off -and shortly after the two made the discovery. _"Or perhaps he wishes to join the Wizengamot, if he is more interested in Wizarding law. Either way, I think law suits him."_  
  
When Renilda inevitably discovered that Virgil and Logan obtained jobs at Stella Stockett, she immediately set to work preparing a celebration. Professor Picani quickly hopped on board with the festivities as well, and Virgil almost found himself wishing that they'd kept it a secret entirely.  
  
...almost, but not quite.  
  
Renilda cooked one of Virgil and Logan's favorite meals, following it up with cake. _"Oh good, the real reason I came to this dinner. Yes, that's right, it had nothing to do with Virgil and Logan in the slightest,"_ Dee announced with a smirk.  
  
"Oh shut up Dee," Virgil said through his phone alongside an eyeroll.  
  
The cake _was_ good though, Virgil had to hand that much to Dee.  
  
Before they cut into the cake, though, Renilda raised her glass. _"This is to Virgil and Logan, who have both attained full time jobs with the Stella Stockett Planetarium!"_   
  
Everyone raised their glass, aside from Professor Picani, who cleared his throat. _"I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize Lionel, who has just accepted an internship with the Wizengamot,"_ Professor Picani grinned and raised his own glass.  
  
Virgil, Logan, and Renilda turned to Dee in surprise. Dee merely shrugged, offering them a slight smirk in response.  
  
That certainly explained the law books...but wasn't it risky for Dee to intern at the Wizengamot while he was still a fugitive from wizarding law under his true identity?  
  
...something told Virgil that was part of the thrill of it for Dee. He raised his glass, arching an eyebrow at Dee, who arched his own eyebrow in return as he met his brother's gaze.  
  
Virgil offered to help his mother and Professor Picani with clean-up after dinner, but the duo declined. Instead, Virgil, Logan, and Dee were tasked with keeping Renata entertained. This wasn't _too_ difficult - There were three of them, and Renata was only a few months old. They took turns playing with toys and making noises at her, all of which she seemed thoroughly entertained by, judging from the smiles and giggles that would occasionally erupt.  
  
Dee was dangling a stuffed worm in front of her, making funny noises and watching in amusement as she would occasionally bat and and grab the toy, giggling all the while. _"I don't think I could get used to this at all,"_ Dee said with a chuckle, making his sarcasm all too clear this time around.  
  
A knock at the door startled the three from their reverie, and they all glanced over. There was another rap at the door, and the trio exchanged glances.  
  
 _"Is anyone going to get that?"_ Renilda called from the kitchen.  
  
Virgil rose to his feet, but Logan was already on his feet, making his way over to the door. They weren't expecting anybody, so who might be there at this time in the evening? Virgil and Logan exchanged glances, then Logan pulled open the door.  
  
Roman stood at the doorstep. He looked like a _mess_ , and Virgil would have told him as much had he not noticed that Roman's eyes were red-rimmed and wet.  
  
He'd been _crying_.  
  
Alarm bells immediately began to go off in Virgil's head. Something was very _wrong_ -  
  
Virgil wasn't the only one who noticed, either. _"Where is Patton?"_ Logan asked, peering behind Roman as if Patton would suddenly appear there.  
  
Virgil's stomach felt as though it was doing somersaults. _Why wasn't Patton with Roman? Had something happened to Patton?_  
  
Roman took in a shaky breath. _"Patton...Patton broke up with me,"_ he admitted before dissolving into tears, covering his face with his hands as he sobbed. Virgil and Logan were so concerned with this sudden development that they failed notice the way the corners of Roman's mouth curved upward beneath his hands as they invited him into Renilda's flat, desperate to console their nearly inconsolable friend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of this installment, with the next installment to start soon! I am currently on vacation, which at times limits my ability to write in large chunks as I am used to doing. That being said, I have already written what would be the equivalent of half of what one of my normal chapters would be. I was wondering if you guys would want me to go ahead and possibly post a shortened chapter tomorrow or if you would rather have me wait? I'm personally leaning toward posting a shortened chapter, but I want my readers' input if they would like me to do something different. Thank you for your readership!


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